Boy Scout or Rebel
by Cian'Perrel
Summary: Jubilee wants to find out whether Scott is the boy scout he seems to be since becoming an X-Man, or the rebel he seemed to be when he first arrived at the Institute; and she has a plan to help her.
1. The Plan

A/N: I just recently watched the X-Men Apocalypse movie, and was quite impressed. Almost all the X-Men movies, prior to this one, left a sour taste in my mouth, as to the potential they never lived up too, and the way the stories were told. Now while I feel that the Apocalypse story was rushed, I understand the need to fit it in the length of a movie, so I can overlook that. That being said, I really liked the introduction of the new characters (or rather, their re-introduction in this new universe). One character that I was intrigued by was Jubilee; I had hopes that she would play a more active role in the movie. But with cuts needing to be made for the sake of time, apparently a lot of her on-screen time was removed, and we only got glimpses of her. What I did see of her though, was enough to inspire me to write this little piece. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to review if you want.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine is the plot.

 **Boy Scout or Rebel**

Jubilation Lee sat on one of the many benches around the Xavier Institute, watching as Scott took target practice in the field behind it. Hank had set up a bunch of clay pigeon launchers so that Scott could work on hitting moving targets. She was awed at his skill, as he hit target after target; especially since he had only received his visor a couple of months ago.

Only when the last target was a pile of rubble, did Scott relax. He bent at the waist, breathing heavily, and wiped his face with the towel draped around his neck.

Jubilation unconsciously tilted her head to the side to get a better view of Scott's butt, and sighed. She knew she wasn't being very discreet with her infatuation with him, but she was never the discreet type. Still, though, Scott seemed completely oblivious to it, and it was starting to frustrate her. If he didn't like her in that way, she'd rather he just come out and tell her to get lost, instead of carrying on like he didn't notice. But that was going to change soon; she had a plan.

As Scott stood up, and replaced his visor with his glasses, she stood up too. "Nice shooting today." She commented. "It looks like moving up to the big leagues was a good move."

"Yeah, I still don't know about that." He replied, walking over to stand next to her. "I don't really feel like I belong on the team."

"Dude, you're the heavy hitter on the team; no one has the kind of raw power you got." She said.

"Jean has got some pretty scary power when she wants too, and Ororo can control the weather; I feel like I'm carrying around a peashooter compared to them." He replied.

"Then they must just need you for your pretty face." She said, giving him a wink.

He laughed shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

They started walking towards the Institute, chatting about recent events. When they arrived at Scott's bedroom, she finally plucked up enough courage to say what she was hoping would get a favorable reaction from him. "It's just a shame that becoming an X-Man has turned you into such a boy scout." She said, offhandedly.

"What?" He asked, his voice taking a bit of a defensive tone.

She forced herself not to smile, as she got the reaction she expected. "It's just that, when you first got here, you were kind of a rebel; I mean you stole one of the Professor's cars to take us to the mall. And now, you're like, a goody two-shoes; following all the rules." She said. "Just saying, it's a shame."

"I am not a boy scout." He said, crossing his arms in front of him, and trying to look menacing.

"Prove it." She replied, mimicking his stance.

"Alright." He said, nodding. "Meet me in the garage in thirty minutes; I'll show you that I'm not a boy scout." He opened the door, and stepped inside his room. "I just need a quick shower, and a change of clothes, and I'll be right down."

She waited until his door was closed, before letting a smile creep onto her face.

* * *

She was leaning against one of the Professor's cars, when Scott walked in wearing a pair of dark jeans, and a leather jacket; looking totally badass.

"So, which car are we taking this time?" She asked. "I was thinking the Porsche." She patted the car she was leaning against.

He walked past her to the cabinet in the back, and opened it. He removed two helmets, and held one out to her. "We're not taking a car." He replied. "We're taking one of his Harleys."

She watched as he climbed onto one of the motorcycles, put his helmet on, and motioned for her to join him. "Hop on." He said.

"Ah, are you sure you know how to drive one of these?" She asked, a hint of fear entering her voice. "I mean, don't you need to take a special class to learn how to drive a motorcycle?"

"I do know how to drive one; Alex and my dad were bike guys, and they showed me." He replied. The sadness that was usually in his voice whenever he spoke about Alex was still there, but it sounded like he was getting better.

"Oh, cool." She said, pulling the helmet on, and climbing on behind him. She immediately felt weird; not knowing proper motorcycle riding protocol.

"You can get closer." He said, looking over his shoulder at her; his voice a little muffled by the helmet. "Then wrap your arms around me, and hold on tight."

She scooted forward, until she was pressed against his back, and gladly wrapped her arms around him. She let out a sigh, as she leaned her head against his back.

Scott started the engine, and burned out; making her scream at the speed.

* * *

He drove them to the mall, and suggested they catch a movie.

She looked at the line up, and had an idea. She chose the horror movie Cujo, saying that she had heard from a couple of girls that it was really good; which was, of course, a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

Scott paid for the tickets, and bought them both popcorn and drinks. Then they took their seats, in the back row of course, and waited for the movie to start.

It took a while, but eventually a part came where Jubilation could enact her plan. The moment the movie got even remotely scary, she scrambled for his hand; entwining the fingers of her left hand with those of his right hand, while clutching onto his bicep with her right hand. Then, with each new scary moment, she went further.

First she pulled on his arm, until he was leaning towards her, and she had his hand in her lap. Then she would turn her head, and pretend to hide her eyes against his shoulder. Finally, she had him leaning so far towards her, that she grabbed at his leather jacket, and buried her face against his neck.

Of course, none of the movie had really scared her, she had just guessed that if she played the damsel in distress, Scott's hero side would kick in, and he'd become a knight in shinning armor, ready to protect her; and it seemed to have worked, because Scott let her clutch at him for protection throughout the movie. In fact, she spent more time with her face buried against Scott, than she did actually watching the movie.

She was actually disappointed when the movie ended; she had really been enjoying being so close to Scott.

He suggested they grab a bite to eat before heading back, since they were already late for dinner.

They grabbed burgers, and talked about ideal gossip around the Institute; or more like, she talked and he listened.

As they walked back to the bike, Jubilation tried desperately to think of a way to continue this outing; she hadn't found the ideal opportunity to make her move yet, and she needed more time. She had a light-bulb moment while Scott was putting on his helmet; she had been looking out at the town, trying to think of something, when she saw the hill in the distance, and it struck her.

"You know, I think I know the perfect place we should go to next." She said, turning to look at him with a smile. "It's totally rad."

"It's kind of getting late, Jubes." He replied. "We should probably head back; we're already going to be in trouble as it is."

"Exactly." She said, matter-of-factly. "We're already in trouble; what's a couple of more hours going to change?"

She could see his inner turmoil, as his new found responsibility of being an X-Man fought against his rebel side. When she saw the smile on his face, she knew which side had won.

"Alright!" She shouted, as she put her helmet on, and climbed on behind him. "Just head towards the Institute, and take the first right outside of town."

"Okay." He said, starting the engine. "If you need to tell me something, or I'm going the wrong way; just pat my chest with your hand, and I'll pull over."

* * *

They arrived at a hilltop lookout, that looked very similar to many movie type make-out spots; which, in reality, it was, but Jubilation hoped Scott didn't realize it just yet. He parked the bike, and turned off the engine.

She hoped off, and removed her helmet. "Here we are." She said, holding her hands out and looking towards the town. "The best place to see the whole town."

Scott had removed his helmet, and walked over to stand next to her against a rail that was set up to prevent people from falling over the edge. "Wow, pretty nice." He said.

"What did I tell you?" She asked, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "Pretty rad, eh?"

She started pointing out various landmarks to him, letting him know which ones she thought were worth exploring more; possibly on a future outing.

"Tonight was fun." He said, as they walked back towards the bike. "I hope I proved that I'm not a boy scout?"

"No, you're a total badass." She replied, winking at him. "Especially in that leather jacket; you look totally hot in it."

Even with only the moon and stars to provide light, she could see him blush at the comment.

He climbed onto the bike, and was reaching for his helmet, which he had left draped on one of the handlebars, when she made her move. She climbed onto the bike in front of him, facing him; basically sitting in his lap.

"Ah, Jubes, it's going to be kind of hard to drive like this." He said.

She blew one last bubble with her pink chewing gum, before smiling at him. "I don't plan on driving back just yet." She said. Then she leaned in, and kissed him.

He was caught off guard, and was frozen in place for a few seconds, before he returned the kiss, tentatively wrapping his arms around her back.

When she pulled back, she smiled at his confused look.

"Ah, Jubes; what was that?" He asked.

"I hope you know that that was a kiss." She replied, jokingly. "I'd hate to think that that was your first kiss."

"No it's not; it's just..." He stammered, obviously flustered. "What I mean is; why did you kiss me?"

"I would think it's totally obvious; I think you're incredibly hot, and I wanted too." She replied.

"You think I'm hot?" He asked, as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"Ah, yeah." She replied. "I mean, you're like the resident stud muffin at the Institute; all the girls talk about you."

"They do?" He asked.

"You really don't know?" She asked, genuinely surprised.

"No." He replied. "I was always the loser in school; picked on by everyone. Why would I think it would be any different here?"

"I had no idea." She replied. "I just assumed that you were probably the top dog at your old school, and had all the girls throwing themselves at you; that's why you were so upset about having to come here at first."

He laughed. "I wish." He replied. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was never the top dog."

"Well you are now." She said, with a smile. She leaned in, and started to kiss him again.

This time, he reacted instantly, and returned the kiss; pulling her closer.

* * *

They pulled up to the Institute near midnight, and almost all the lights were off. For a brief moment, they actually thought they might have gotten away with it, but just as they put the helmets back in the cabinet, the light in the garage turned on, revealing Professor Xavier sitting in the doorway.

"I hope you both understand that you are in trouble." He said, looking at them sternly. "But since it's late, I'll let you get to bed, and we'll talk about this in the morning."

They both mumbled yeses, looking down at their feet.

"Off to bed, then." He said, rolling back into the hall, and disappearing around the corner.

"It was totally worth it." She said, looking over at Scott with a smile.

He popped a bubble with the pink chewing gum, and returned her smile. "Yeah; totally." He replied.

 _ **THE END**_


	2. How it all started

A/N: I was actually content to leave the story as it was, at first, but as time went on, I kind of wanted to see where I could go with it; so, I started writing a sequel...and then another. I'm not sure how long I'll keep this going, but for now, I seem to have regained a little bit of my motivation to write X-Men stories again. Who knows, this might inspire me to continue some of the stories I abandoned when I first lost my muse, a few years ago. I'm upping the rating to M for future chapters, because if I don't do it now, I know I'll forget too later.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine it the plot.

 **Boy-Scout or Rebel**

Jubilation was not a fan of the punishment that she had received; she knew that punishments weren't supposed to be fun, but this was just wrong. Who knew that the Professor had a stable with horses on his property; she certainly didn't. So besides the customary two week grounding that she had received, she was forced to clean out the stables, and feed the horses, everyday; and she didn't even like horses.

It could have been worse, she supposed; she could have gotten Scott's punishment. Not only did he also get the same two week grounding, but he had to clean up the 'Danger Room' after every session. He was also on the receiving end of a very stern talking too from the Professor, and demoted from Raven's second in command.

She could have dealt with the punishment better if she had at least had any free time with Scott to talk about what had happened; but between classes, powers training, and the punishment, they hadn't had a single second alone. The one night she had thought of sneaking out of her room and over to his, to talk, she was caught by Raven, and had to lie and say that she really needed to use the bathroom, or face additional punishment. So for two full weeks, she had been wondering if what happened between them was a one time thing, or if there was a possibility of more.

At least there was only one more day of punishment, after today, before she was free to talk to him. All she had to do was finish feeding the horses, and she was done for the day.

"I think you've had enough." Someone said from behind her, and she nearly jumped as she turned around to see Raven.

"Geez, Louise; you nearly gave me a heart attack." She said, when she saw Raven leaning against the door leading outside. "What do you want? Did the Professor send you here to extend my punishment?"

"Quite the opposite." Raven replied. "Charles was called away early this morning, and is going to be gone all weekend. I came by to set you free. I think he might have been a little too hard on you two, you are young after all, but he's quite stubborn when he wants to be, and wouldn't listen to me. Now that he's gone though, I'm in charge, and I think you've both had enough. Finish up here, and then consider your punishment over."

Jubilation watched as Raven turned around, and walked away.

She couldn't believe it; it was only a day off of her punishment, but it felt like a lot more. She quickly finished up, and ran back to the mansion as fast as she could.

She was about to run straight to the Danger Room, but thought better of it. Instead, she rushed to her room so she could take a quick shower, and change into some clean clothes; she didn't want Scott to see her all sweaty, and dirty.

Once she was clean, and feeling a lot more like herself, she started looking around for him.

He wasn't hard to find, as he nearly ran her over when he came around the corner from the kitchen.

"Hey Jubes." He said, giving her a smile. "I was looking for you."

"You were?" She asked, trying to play it cool. "What for?"

"Well Hank came and told me that they're cutting our punishment short." He said. "I was hoping that, maybe we could talk."

"I could talk." She said, fighting back the smile that was threatening to burst forth, and ruin her whole 'cool' attitude.

"Cool." He said, his smile getting bigger. "Do you want to talk now, or are you busy?"

"I can move some things around, if you want to talk now." She said.

"Do you want to head outside? Maybe find a more private spot to talk?" He asked.

Something clicked in her head, and, inwardly, she thanked the Professor for the odd punishment. "I think I know the perfect place." She replied. "Follow me."

She started walking down the hall, forcing Scott to catch up to her. Then she lead him outside, and down a path that not many people ever used.

When they arrived at the stables, she smiled at Scott's surprise.

"Wow, so this is where you've been." He said. "I didn't even know this was here."

"Neither did I." She said. "And neither do most of the other students; so it should be private enough."

She opened the door, and was hit with a cloud of smoke that smelled horrible.

"What the hell?" She said, as she coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to try and clear the smoke.

"Oh shit." A young male voice said.

"Don't move." Scott said with a commanding tone.

Jubilation noticed that there were two students standing in the middle of the stables, looking like they wanted to be anywhere but there. She also noticed that one of them was holding, what looked like, a cigarette.

"Ah, it's not what you think." The one with black hair said.

"What are your names?" Scott asked.

The two boys looked reluctant to reply, but Jubilation recognized them both. "That's Roberto, and that's Sam." She said, pointing at them each in turn. "They're in my math class."

"So, it's not what I think it is, Roberto?" Scott asked, taking a step forward. "You mean to tell me that that's not pot you're smoking?"

"Whoa, you guys are smoking pot?" Jubilation said. "You'll get expelled for that."

"I can't get expelled." Sam said, with a southern accent. "Ma will have my hide."

"No one is going to get expelled, Sam." Scott said. "Not this time." He held his hand out. "Give it here."

Sam placed the joint in Scott hand.

"All of it." Scott said. "I doubt that this is everything you have."

Sam looked at Roberto, and nodded. Roberto sighed, but reached into his back pocket and pulled out a baggy; which he dropped in Scott's hand.

"Is that everything?" Scott asked.

"Yes." They said in unison.

"Good." Scott said. "Now I'm going to get rid of this, and you're going to thank both of us for not telling anyone about this, before getting the hell out of my sight. And if I ever catch you doing this again, I won't hesitate to tell the Professor about it, and you'll both be on the first flights back to your families."

"Thank you." The both said, before shuffling past them with their heads down.

"I mean it." Scott called after them. "This is the one freebie you get from me."

"Oh my God." She said, once they were out of sight. "I can't believe that."

Scott closed the door, and turned to face her. She was a little confused by his smile. "Want some?" He asked, waving the bag.

"What? Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, why not?" He replied. "It'd be a shame to let this go to waste."

"Ah, what if someone finds us?" She asked.

"I doubt anyone else will show up." Scott replied. "And those two will definitely not return. Besides, we're not going to be stupid, and stand in the middle of the room, where anyone can see us if they do come in; we'll find a safe spot."

"Um...sure." She said, giving him a smile. "Why not?"

"Cool." Scott said, looking around. "Any of the stalls free?"

"No, but I have an idea." She said, walking down the aisle between the stalls. Scott followed close by. "Up there." She said, pointing to a ladder that led up into the rafters. "There's a landing up there that is pretty hidden. We can probably move some boxes around; make it even better."

"Sounds good." Scott said. "Ladies first."

She took a couple of steps up the ladder, before freezing as she realized something. Then she climbed back down, and gave him a playful scowl. "You just want me to go first, so you can look up my skirt." She said.

"What?" He asked, stretching out the word. "How can you even think such a thing?"

"Because you're a guy, and all guys are perverts." She replied. "You first."

"Alright; but if I catch you looking at my butt, I'm going to be upset." He said, starting to climb.

She waited until he was halfway up, before she started climbing. She did, however, make sure to check him out as he climbed; his butt just looked so scrumptious in those jeans.

Of course, he caught her looking, which made her blush. But he didn't say anything, just gave her a smile as he helped her up the last few rungs.

They got to work, moving several boxes out of the way, until they had a little secluded alcove that was impossible to see unless you climbed the ladder.

"That should do it." Scott said, sitting down on the ground.

Jubilation sat next to him, and watched as he opened the baggy, and proceeded to roll a new joint.

She was getting a little nervous about the whole thing, but wasn't going to say anything, since she had been the one who originally got this all started when she had called Scott a boy-scout.

Scott lifted the joint to his lips, and lit the end; taking the first puff. Then he held it out for her, while slowly blowing out smoke.

She hesitated for a second, but eventually took the joint. She placed it to her lips and took a drag. She immediately started coughing, and handed it back to Scott.

"Is this your first time?" He asked, taking the joint while watching her carefully.

"What? No." She replied, between coughs. "It's just...been a while."

She could see by the way he was looking at her that he knew she's lying.

"Okay; it is my first time." She admitted, once she had her coughing under control.

He took another drag, before handing it back to her. "Take smaller drags." He said, as he blew out the smoke. "It takes some getting used too."

She took the joint, and took a smaller drag. She only coughed once, before gaining control. Then she handed it back. "I didn't take you for a pot-head." She said.

"I'm not." He said, looking at the joint carefully, before taking another drag. "I have done it before, but never for recreational use."

"What other use could there possibly be?" She asked, taking another small drag.

"Medicinal." He replied. "It's a pretty good painkiller."

"Painkiller?" She asked, looking at her hands skeptically. Something no one other than the Professor knew was that using her powers hurt like hell; like she was being pricked by dozens of pins at the same time, over and over.

"Yeah." He replied, taking another drag. "Before my powers manifested, I used to get some pretty intense migraines; still do, I guess. Anyways, when I was around fourteen, Alex found out about them, and he gave me my first joint. He had been doing it for years to deal with the pain his powers caused him, and figured it might help; which it did. Afterwards, if my migraines got too intense, he would sneak me out of the house, so our parents didn't find out, and we'd smoke up."

"Have you done anything else?" She asked.

"No." Scott replied. "Just pot. Although I have tried alcohol."

"Who hasn't?" She asked, jokingly. "I've snuck a few beers before."

They continue to chat while passing the joint back and forth. Jubilation was slowly getting used to it, and not coughing as much. She also started to feel really relaxed, and leaned against Scott. She rested her head on his shoulder, and stared at his profile.

"Your really cute." She said, surprising herself with her bluntness.

"Ah, thanks." He said, blushing. "I think you're cute too."

"No, I mean, like 'really' cute." She said. "Like super hot, kind of cute."

His blush got even deeper.

"I just want to kiss you all over; you're so cute." She said.

Before he could reply, she started kissing his neck.

"Ah, Jubes..?" He asked, a little surprised by her actions. He wasn't against it; it's just not something he had been prepared for. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm feeling great." She replied, between kisses.

She trailed her kissed towards his lips, and soon they were making-out. But it didn't seem to be enough for her, as her hands started to roam. She started running them down his arms, and over his chest.

When she climbed into his lap, and started unbuttoning his shirt, he pulled back and grabbed her wrists. "Whoa, slow down, Jubes." He said. "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't know." She said, trying to capture his lips again, but he pulled back further.

He laughed, and shook his head. "I thought Alex was lying, but I guess he was right." He said.

"About what?" She asked.

"He once told me that some people react differently to pot." He replied. "It always just, kind of, mellowed both of us out, so I didn't really believe him; but now, I'm inclined too."

"What do you mean?" She asked, still not getting what he was talking about.

"I think pot is making you...ah...a little...ah...how do I say it?" He replied, obviously struggling with how to explain what he meant.

It finally clicked in her head, what he was getting at, and she smiled. "It's making me a little..." She said, leaning in to whisper. "...horny?"

He visibly swallowed. "Ah, yeah; that." He replied. "I mean, you were pretty forward that night at the lookout; but nothing led me to believe that things would get like this, this quickly, between us."

She climbed off him, and leaned back against him. "I think you're right." She said, seemingly having regained some control. "I mean, don't get me wrong; I totally want to...you know...with you. But I don't want to rush things." She looked at the baggy sitting on the floor next to Scott. "No more for me; ever." She said, pointing at it. "I just hope that it's only pot that does that; when I snuck those beers, I was alone, so I have no idea if alcohol does it to me too."

"Anythings possible." He replied. "Alex was totally mellow when he was high, but he was a rambunctious drunk."

"I'm sorry, Scott." She said, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't be." He replied. "It's all good. No harm, no foul."

"Thank you, though." She said, causing him to look at her. "If you hadn't stopped me, I would have totally gone all the way with you, and I don't think that would be a good idea just yet. I mean, I really like you and all, and I think you're super scrumptious; but if it's going to happen, I want it to be special, and not because I'm horny from smoking pot."

"I really like you too, Jubes." He replied, with a smile. "And if it does happen, I would want it to be special too."

She leaned her head back against his shoulder, and just enjoyed the warmth of his body pressed against her side.

They sat there in silence, while Scott finished the rest of the joint.

"Scott?" She asked.

"Yeah, Jubes?" He replied.

"Are we...an item?" She asked. "I'm just curious; because we haven't really talked since that night."

Scott let out a laugh. "Man this stuff mellowed me out so much, I completely forgot why we even came here in the first place." He replied. "I wanted to talk about what happened, and what it meant." He looked at her, and smiled. "I really like you, Jubes; and it's not the pot talking, I really mean it. You're fun, and sweet, and cute; and a total pain in the ass. But I haven't stopped thinking about you since that night; which got me a couple of more talks from the Professor, and even one from Jean. Apparently, I was distracted by my thoughts, and was projecting them loudly."

"I guess it was good that my punishment was all the way out here, because I haven't stopped thinking about you either." She said, returning his smile.

"Does that mean that we are an item?" He asked. "Because, I would kind of like that."

"Me too." She replied.

His smile disappeared, and his face took on a more serious tone. "Jubes, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked.

She started laughing, at how serious he was being. "Yeah, silly." She replied. "You don't need to be so formal about it. But, yes, I want to be your girlfriend."

"Cool." He said, laughing with her. "Sorry; never had a girlfriend. Didn't know how to ask."

"You've never had a girlfriend?" She asked, shocked that this totally hot guy had never had a girlfriend. "I don't buy it."

"No; I was a loser at school, remember." He replied.

"So, I'm your first girlfriend?" She asked. "Wow, those other girls missed out; sucks to be them." She took his hand, and interlocked their fingers together.

"Do you want to head back?" He asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Not just yet." She replied, as an idea came to her. "I was wondering, only if you want, if maybe we could make-out a little bit more?"

"That sounds like something I could definitely go for." He replied. He pulled her closer, and started to kiss her.

* * *

Scott was still holding her hand, as he walked her back to her room. She felt like she was floating, and it had nothing to do with the pot they had smoked; it was the pure joy of knowing that she was now Scott Summers' girlfriend.

"So, since our punishment is over, I was wondering if you wanted to go into town tomorrow and catch a movie?" He asked, when they stopped in front of her door.

"Yeah; that sounds fun." She replied. "Maybe this time, though, we should ask to borrow a car. I know you're a total rebel, and all; but I kind of don't want to spend the next two weeks cleaning out the stables again."

"Yeah; I'll ask Raven tomorrow morning." He replied. "I guess this is goodnight."

"I guess it is." She said.

Then he leaned in for one more kiss.

"Goodnight, Scott." She said.

"Goodnight, Jubes." He replied.

She turned to open her door, as Scott started walking away. She couldn't help watching him walk away; God he looked so good in those jeans.

He looked back over his shoulder, and caught her looking. "And you say that all boys are perverts." He said, shaking his head and laughing, as he turned the corner and disappeared.

She felt her face burning, as she blushed hard, at being caught for the second time that night, ogling him.

She stepped into her room, and closed the door behind her. Then she threw herself onto her bed, and smiled up at the ceiling. "It's my right to ogle my boyfriend." She said out loud. "My boyfriend; Scott Summers is my boyfriend." She felt her smile growing with each word. "The other girls are going to be 'so' jealous when they find out."

 **THE END**


	3. Maturity is Overated

A/N: This is the next installment in the story. I have one more planned for now, but haven't decided if I'm going to end it there, or just take a break.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine it the plot.

 **Boy-Scout or Rebel**

Jubilation was feeling like the queen of the school these days. Not only had she been dating the hottest guy in the whole school for four months now, which made every other girl there jealous of her, but she was about to get her first chance to show the Professor and Raven that she was ready to join the team. So there was nothing that could possibly bring her down; that is, until she was exiting the locker room in the sub-basement.

"Seriously, Scott; she's just a kid." She could hear Jean say from the hallway outside. "I mean she just turned sixteen, for God's sake."

"So what?" She recognized Scott's voice, reply.

"So, she's not a 'mature' sixteen, Scott; she's still extremely immature." Jean said. "Geez, yesterday, she thought it would be funny to roller-skate through the house, using her powers to blast all of the lights off."

"Was anyone hurt?" Scott asked.

"Well no..." Jean started to reply.

"Then who cares." Scott said. "Jean, you said it yourself, she's sixteen; she's allowed to be immature sometimes. Hell, we're all allowed to be immature sometimes; we're still young, and in school. I can promise you, that when push comes to shove, Jubes will not let you down."

"Then maybe you need to grow up too; if that's how you think." Jean said. "You're supposed to be a role-model for the younger students, and whenever you're around her, you act just as bad as she does; she's a bad influence on you. God, they even removed you from second-in-command because of that whole motorcycle stealing incident. You're turning eighteen on Sunday, Scott; it's time to stop acting like a kid."

Jubilation could hear footsteps walking away, and stayed hidden just inside the doorway. She could hear Scott grunt in frustration, before his footsteps walked in the opposite direction, past the locker rooms.

She waited a little while, before stepping into the, now, empty hallway. The excitement of her test, was gone, and in it's place was a profound melancholy.

She walked down the hall, following the same path that Jean had taken, and approached, what the students had started calling, the 'Danger Room'.

"Right on time, Jubilation." Raven said, as she stood next to the open door. "That's a good start."

Rather than reply with some witty comment, Jubilation just walked past Raven into the Danger Room.

"So, I've talked with Charles, and we've come up with a series of tasks to test you; so we can see if you're ready to start training with the team." Raven said, walking over to stand next to her. "Based on your power set, the first test will be target practice."

Raven pressed a button on the controller she held, and a red and white bulls-eye popped up from the ground, about five feet away.

"It'll start out slow; stationary targets will appear, and you'll have a few seconds to hit them before they disappear." Raven explained. "Then the targets will start to vary in distance; before eventually they switch to moving targets."

Jubilation only nodded in reply.

"The goal here is to hit as many targets as you can, as fast as you can." Raven said. "The more accurate you are, the better; but don't sacrifice targets, because you're focused on trying to hit bulls-eyes. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Jubilation mumbled, just loud enough to hear.

"Okay then. Once I step outside, and close the doors, you'll hear a buzzer." Raven said. "When you hear that, you'll have ten seconds before the test begins. Good luck."

Raven turned around, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Jubilation heard the buzzer sound, and readied herself. Ten seconds later, the first target appeared.

* * *

The final buzzer sounded, and the remaining targets disappeared.

Jubilation rubbed her hands, while she tried to catch her breath. She had known, going in, that the tests would be taxing, but she hadn't thought that target practice would drain her so much.

The door opened, and in stepped Henry, with a bottle of water, and an orange. "Here." He said, holding them out to her.

She took the water, and quickly started drinking it.

"Take your time." He said. "Don't drink it all at once; and eat the orange."

She looked at him quizzically, before taking the orange, and peeling it.

"It'll help." He replied, to her questioning look. "While you eat, I'll explain your second task."

Jubilation watched him, as she munched on the orange.

"While the first task was meant to test your power set, you never know when you'll be in a situation without them." He explained. "The reason Raven had several of you signed up for those Martial Arts classes, was so that you could learn to defend yourself without using your powers. So, the second task will be to defend yourself from attack, without using your powers."

"What?" She asked, starting to feel nervous for the first time that day.

"You're going to have to defend yourself in three separate three minute rounds." He continued. "Surviving the full three minutes is more important that taking down your opponent; so don't try to do too much. If you are incapacitated, or you use your powers, at any time, you will instantly lose the round."

"When does it start?" She asked, looking around to see who her opponent would be.

"As soon as you're done." He replied, removing his coat, and stretching.

* * *

The first round had been a fight against Henry.

Jubilation had been able to tell early on that he was going easy on her. She had seen him move faster than he was right then, and he had made no effort to try and grapple her; which she knew would be an instant win for him.

Raven had been able to tell too, because Jubilation saw the dirty look she gave him, as she walked in for the second round.

Where Henry had been going easy on here, Raven was not holding back. Jubilation found herself on the defensive from the start, and was nearly pinned early on, when Raven had sweep her legs out from under her; but a quick roll, and she had escaped.

But not for long.

Raven managed to get behind her, and wrap her left arm around her neck. Then as Jubilation tried to pull the arm away, Raven grabbed Jubilation's right arm, and wrenched it behind her back.

Luckily, for Jubilation, the buzzer sounded, and Raven released her.

Jubilation rubbed her right shoulder, and winced.

"Get ready; third round's about to start." Raven said.

Jubilation looked up, and wondered if she was going to have to fight Raven again.

"Let's see if you can handle both of us." Raven said.

"Wait, both?" Jubilation asked, looking on in shock. "But that's unfair."

"Life's not fair, kid." Raven replied.

Jubilation didn't even have time to reply, as the buzzer sounded, and both her opponents approached her. She quickly backpedaled, trying to get some distance so she could think; but Henry didn't seem to be holding back this time, as he rushed her, forcing her to roll to avoid being tackled.

She barely saw Raven's foot coming down in an ax-kick in time to throw up her arms to block it. She tried to stand up, but Henry was on her again, and she had to roll once more.

This time, though, she had inadvertently turned her back to Raven, who quickly took advantage, and grabbed her just like she had at the end of the previous round; wrenching the same arm behind her back, painfully.

"Tap out." She heard Raven whisper into her ear. "I don't think you'll be able to stay conscious long enough this time; the buzzer's not going to save you."

"It's over, Raven." Henry said. "Let her go."

"It's not over, until she submits." Raven replied. "Those are the conditions of the test."

"Raven, she can't escape; it's over." Henry said, looking concerned. "Just let her go."

"All she has to do is tap my arm with her free hand." Raven said. "Or just wait until she blacks out; her choice."

Henry took a step forward, and looked like he was about to interfere, when Jubilation lifted her left hand to tapped Raven's forearm.

Raven immediately released her, and she collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily.

"That was, okay." Raven said. "A lot better than I expected."

"Raven, she's a kid." Henry said, bending down to check on Jubilation. "You didn't need to be so rough."

"Our enemies won't play nice because she's a kid." Raven replied. "The sooner she learns that, the better."

Henry turned his attention back to Jubilation. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Jubilation replied, quietly.

"I think we're done for today." He said, helping her stand up. "The last test can wait."

"No." Jubilation said.

"What?" He asked.

"I said no." She replied. "I came here to get tested, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm not quitting."

Henry was about to say something, but Raven cut him off. "Okay." She said. "Take a small break, Henry will bring you some more water, and then we'll move onto the final task."

She nodded to Henry, who shook his head, and followed her out.

* * *

When Henry had returned, it was with the rest of the team, all dressed up for work.

Jubilation looked over at Scott, and he smiled at her. She forced a smile onto her face, but didn't miss the scowl that Jean gave her over Scott's shoulder.

"Alright, this is the final test." Raven said. "Teamwork. If you are going to be a part of this team, you need to show us that you can work with them to accomplish your goals. You also need to show us that you can follow orders, in the heat of battle."

Jubilation looked around at the others, and noticed that only Jean seemed to be looking at her.

"The scenario you will face, will be to rescue a target from a collapsing building." Raven said, while Henry punched in several commands into the console. "Since I'm going to be judging this, along with Henry; Jean will be the field leader."

Jubilation looked over, nervously, at Jean.

"You will follow her commands." Raven said. "As usual; expect surprises."

Henry finished punching in commands, and followed Raven outside.

Scott walked over to her, and placed a hand on her right shoulder; she held back a flinch at the pain it caused. "Okay, so your powers at distance based, like myself; so stick with me, and provide cover for the others."

"Ah, excuse me; but you're not the leader here, Cyclops." Jean said. "If you recall, you lost that position. I'm the leader now."

Jubilation could see Scott visibly flinch at the comment.

"I want Storm in the air, providing us with a bird's eye view of the situation." Jean said, turning her back to Cyclops and Jubilation. "Nightcrawler and Quicksilver, I want you on perimeter watch." She turned back to them. "Cyclops, you stay back and provide cover. While...what do we even call you?"

"Ah, I don't know." Jubilation replied. "No one told me I had to have a code-name."

"Fine, whatever." Jean said, shaking her head, and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I'll call you Sparks."

"Sparks?" Jubilation asked. "That sounds kind of lame."

"Yeah, well it suits you, and you need a code-name." Jean replied. "You are going to be on rescue duty."

"Jean, you really shouldn't..." Scott started to say, but Jean but him off.

"I'm the leader, and this is my decision." Jean said. "I need to see just what she can do, and this is how I want to see it."

"It's fine." Jubilation said, stepping away from them. "Let's just get this over with."

The room shimmered, and suddenly the team found themselves in a war torn cityscape.

"Okay, team." Jean said, as she placed her hand on Jubilation's back and pushed her ahead of her. "Let's get this done. Storm take to the air. Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, keep me updated. Sparks, you're with me."

"I really don't like Sparks." Jubilation said.

"It's too late; that's your code-name." Jean said, shoving her forward. "Just keep quit, so I can concentrate."

Jean lead her towards a building in the center of the area, that looked like it had taken a direct hit from a mortar attack.

"In there." Jean said. "I'll keep the place from collapsing on top of us, while you get the target."

"Okay." Jubilation replied.

It wasn't hard to find the target; it was a factory, and they were trapped under some rubble in the middle.

"Go." Jean said, shoving her forward again.

Jubilation ran towards the target, and started removing some of the rubble that was trapping him.

"We have contact." She heard Scott say over the communicator in her ear. "Multiple bogies incoming from the west."

"Storm, see what you can do to slow them down." Jean said, as she concentrated on holding the building together. "Quicksilver, join Nightcrawler, and see if you can take them out. Cyclops, remain back, and provide ranged support."

"I really think that Nightcrawler should join you." Scott said.

"I'm the leader; this is my call." Jean said, none to nicely. "Do as I say."

Jubilation listened to the whole conversation while she finished freeing the target. Then she tried to pull him to his feet, but he was unconscious, and too heavy for her to lift. "Jean, he's too heavy." She said, as she tried to pull him along.

"Hmph." Jean sighed, as she reached out her hand, and used her telekinesis to lift the target. "I guess I have to do everything myself."

"Watch out! You have incoming!" Scott shouted. "Two bogies got through, and are headed your way. I'm coming to help."

"Negative." Jean said, slowly walking towards the hole in the exterior wall that they had used to enter the building. "Remain where you are and support the others; we're on our way out now, with the target."

"But..." Scott started to say, but Jean cut him off again.

"That's an order!" She yelled.

Any reply was cut off be the sound of two heavily armored men appeared in front of them.

"Cover me, while I get the target to safety." Jean said, moving to the side.

Jubilation reacted quickly, firing off a burst of bright lights into the faces of the two men; temporarily blinding them, and allowing Jean to move the target behind cover.

The two men recovered quickly, and one charged at her, while the other charged Jean.

Jubilation barely had time to roll out of the way of the first attack, while Jean seemed to be able to hold her opponent back with her powers. She sent another bust of bright lights into her attackers face, but it didn't seem to faze him, as he punched out, and hit her squarely in the chest; knocking the wind out of her.

He pressed his advantage, and she immediately went on the defensive; dodging what she could, and trying to block what she couldn't dodge. But she was being pushed back into the building, further away from Jean.

"We've got this handled, here." She heard Peter say. "Cyclops can head over to you, if you need him."

"No need." Jean replied. "We have this under control."

Jubilation disagreed, but didn't want to say anything, for fear that it would make her look weak; so she just kept trying to defend herself, while looking for an opening.

She saw it in the form of a piece of industrial machinery that was sitting just to the left of her attacker. She concentrated, and fired off a huge burst at the machine; igniting the propane tank at it's core. The resulting explosion was larger than expected, and not only sent her attacker crashing into the opposite wall, but threw her back off her feet; where she landed with a thud in the middle of the factory floor.

The explosion also did a number on the already weakened structure, and it started to collapse.

She jumped to her feet, and sprinted for the exit; dodging bits of debris that came crashing down around her.

"What the hell was that?" She heard Ororo ask. "That sounded like an explosion."

"The building is collapsing." Jean replied. "Sparks is still inside."

"I'm on my way." Quicksilver said.

"Ja, me too." Nightcrawler added.

Jubilation was just about out of the building, when a chunk of concrete hit her in the back, and knocked her down. She rolled over to see the ceiling coming down on top of her.

Then it just stopped; as if held there by an invisible hand.

"Get up!" She heard Jean shout. "I can't hold this forever!"

Jubilation jumped to her feet, and ran the rest of the way outside; collapsing to her knees once she was clear.

Jean let the building collapse, and turned to look at Jubilation. "What the hell did you do?" She asked. "We failed the mission because of you."

Jubilation looked up to where the target had been left be Jean, and saw the other armored man standing over him, with a smoking gun still in his hand. She tried to stand up, but Jean shoved her to the ground as she walked past her.

"Ow!" Jubilation cried out on pain, as she landed squarely on her injured shoulder. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she started to cry.

Just then the landscape disappeared, and they were back in the Danger Room.

Peter and Kurt were standing nearby, looking at her as she knelt on the ground, holding her arm, and crying. Ororo landed next to them.

Scott came running up to her, and she could see Henry and Raven rushing in from the hallway.

"Jubes, are you okay?" Scott asked, as he knelt down next to her.

Embarrassed, and feeling like a failure, Jubilation didn't reply; instead, she got to her feet, and started running for the exit.

Henry who had been about halfway to them, stopped, and followed her out. "I'm going to need to take a look at your arm." He said. "Follow me to the infirmary."

She never saw that look that Scott shot Jean; nor did she hear his furious words, because the door closed behind them, cutting off any sound.

* * *

If someone were to say that Jubilation was avoiding people, they would be correct. After Henry had taken a look at her shoulder, and diagnosed it as a sprain, with a really nasty contusion; he had put her arm in a sling, and given her some mild painkillers. He had then escorted her back to her bedroom, and told her to get some rest.

But as soon as he was gone, she left her room; not wanting to be found by anyone. She went to the one place that she knew no one would think to look; the library. She spent enough time there to know that it was usually empty at that time, and that if she hid herself behind one of the second floor bookshelves, no one would find her.

There, she sat down, with her back to the wall, and started crying again.

The day had started out with so much promise; she was going to show everyone that she deserved a spot on the team, and then her and Scott would go find somewhere secluded to celebrate by making out. Instead, everything had gone wrong; Jean had told Scott how immature she thought Jubilation was, and that had distracted her throughout the entire try-out. Then to top it off, not only had she done so bad, that they failed the final test, but the whole team, and more importantly Scott, had seen her crying like a little baby because she had gotten hurt.

"Man, you were not easy to find." She heard Peter say from beside her. "Took me a whole two minutes."

"Leave me alone." She replied, keeping her head buried against her knees.

"No can do, Jubes." He said. "Scott gave me specific instructions to look everywhere until I found you."

"I don't want him to see me...like this." She said, struggling to keep her voice in check.

"I don't really think he cares, Jubes." Peter said. "He's just worried about you. He tried to go see you in the infirmary, but Raven wouldn't let any of us go until she was done ripping us a new one, and you were gone by then. He went to your room, but you weren't there either; so he recruited me into 'Operation Find Jubes'. The name could use a little work."

Despite herself, she couldn't help but laugh a little; Peter had a way of doing that to her. "Is he mad?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." Peter replied. "But not at you. He is furious with Jean, and was letting her have it, until Raven finally managed to get him to shut up long enough to rip into all of us."

"I guess I can kiss my spot on the team goodbye." She said. "After that disaster."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Peter replied. "Raven seemed to be more upset with us, than anything. She never even really mentioned you in her tirade. I think she saw...uh...nothing; forget about it."

"What?" She asked, looking up. "She saw what?"

"Well, I had just got to you guys as the simulation was ending, but it kind of looked like Jean shoved you to the ground; hard." He replied.

She thought back to what happened, and couldn't really remember what had happened in the heat of things, but she did remember slamming into the ground at the end. "She did?" She asked.

"That's what it looked like to me; and what it might have looked like to Raven, because she held Jean back, after she was done with us." He replied.

"Why would she do that?" She asked. "I mean I know she thinks I'm immature, and probably doesn't want me on her team; but I thought we were friends."

Peter looked at her sympathetically. "Now, this is just my personal opinion, but I think she's a little jealous of you." He replied.

"Jealous? Of me?" She asked. "But why?"

"Well, what's the one thing you have that she doesn't?" He asked her.

"A sense a style?" She asked, causing both of them to laugh.

"I was referring to Scott." He replied, when he stopped laughing. "This can't really be a surprise to you; I know you're observant. You have to have noticed that a large percentage of the female population here is a little jealous of your relationship with Scott. I, personally, don't mind; if he's off the market, that just leaves more girls for me."

She sat there, thinking about what Peter had just told her.

"Look, don't let what happened in the Danger Room get you down." He said, patting her knee. "We've all failed a bunch of times before, and we're still on the team. I do, however, think you should let me go get Scott, and bring him here; poor guys going to worry himself sick, if he doesn't get to see you."

"Not yet." She said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I look like shit."

"Oh please." He said. "I've seen the way he looks at you; there's no way that you could look that will turn him away. Dude has got it bad, for you."

She smiled, and nodded.

Peter was gone in a flash, and minutes later, she heard someone walking up the stairs to the second floor. She looked up to see Scott walk around the corner, looking relieved.

"Jubes, there you are." He said, sitting down next to her. "I was worried about you."

"I'm fine; just a sprained shoulder." She said. "And a bruised pride."

He took her left hand in his, and interlocked their fingers. "Why?" He asked.

"Because." She replied, not looking at him. "Because I made us fail the test; because, I cried in front of everyone."

"You didn't make us fail the test, Jean did." He said angrily. "And who cares if you cried in front of everyone, you were hurt; you aren't the first person to cry when they got hurt, and you won't be the last."

"But it just goes to prove that I'm still just an immature kid." She mumbled.

"Why would you say that?" He asked, having heard her. "Wait; did you hear what Jean said before your test?"

"Maybe." She replied, looking at her feet. "But it's not just her; Raven and Henry both called me a kid during the tests." She glanced over at him, before looking back at her feet. "Even you said I as immature."

"I did, because you are." He replied, then reached for her chin to force her to look at him. "But so am I. We're all still young; so it's okay to be immature. We'll have our whole adult lives to be boring, and mature; we're allowed to be immature right now."

Her eyes started to get watery, and she tried to cover her face, before he saw her cry again; but Scott leaned his forehead against hers, and kissed her nose.

"Besides, I seriously can't see you ever becoming boring." He said. "Mature, yeah; but never boring. Me on the other hand..."

She giggled, and leaned into him. "Yeah, you'll probably turn into a stiff; dressing all preppy, and being all about the rules." She said. "Total bore."

"Probably." He said, with a laugh. "But hopefully, not for a long time."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked. "Maybe you should be somewhere more comfortable; let your shoulder rest."

"I guess; but only if you stay with me." She replied.

"Sure thing." He said, standing and helping her up. "Where too?"

"How about my room?" She suggested. "It's still early, so I won't get in trouble for having you in my room."

"Okay." He said, as he took her free hand, and lead her down the stairs.

* * *

Jubilation was lying on her bed, using pillows to prop her up enough to look at Scott who was sitting next to her, with his back pressed against the side wall. He sat cross legged, with her feet in his lap, and he was busy rubbing them.

"You have the cutest little feet." He said, as he massaged them gently.

"I get it; I'll small." She said, with a laugh. "I'm Chinese; we're not exactly known for breeding giants."

"I know, but still; these have to be the cutest little feet in the world." He said, with a smile.

"Just keep rubbing them, and telling me how awesome I am." She said, blushing profusely.

"Oh, don't even get me started on how awesome you are." He said. "That could take all day."

She giggled, and tried to pull her feet away, as he ran his fingers along the bottom of her feet with a feathered touch; but he held them in place.

"Okay, I'll stop tickling." He said. "I promise."

He got back to rubbing her feet, and she watched him carefully. There was something that she wanted to know, but was afraid to ask.

"I think you really impressed Raven today." He said, as if he had somehow read her mind.

"Yeah, right." She said, shaking her head. "I failed the test; I'm sure of it."

"I don't know." He said. "When she was yelling at us, after you left, she didn't even mention you once; well not in a negative way. She only yelled at Jean for using you in a way that went against your power-set. I think she was impressed that you followed Jean's orders, even though everyone knew that they were wrong, and that you nearly managed to pull it off."

"Yeah, well, even if that's true, I doubt I'll be getting an invite to join the team." She said.

"Maybe not right away." Scott replied. "But I think she might have you start training with us regardless, and she'll probably give you the test again in a couple of months. At least, that's going to be my suggestion when we have our next meeting."

She tilted her head, and narrowed her eyes.

"Jean got demoted, so I'm second-in-command again." He replied, with a smile. "Raven felt that, even though I had shown a serious lack in judgment when I stole the Professor's motorcycle, I had proven to her that when it came to the team, I was a professional."

"So, are you going to suggest that to Raven because you think I'm good enough, or because I'm your girlfriend?" She asked.

"Jubes, I'm going to be completely honest with you right now." He replied. "When I'm Cyclops, you're not my girlfriend; you're just a teammate. I think you have what it takes to be an X-Man; but you need some training, and you'll benefit from training with us."

"Thank you." She said, with a smile. "That's what I wanted to hear."

"It's the truth." He said, getting back to rubbing her feet.

"Scott?" She said.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"When I woke up, I kind of had this idea about how the day was going to go; I'd ace the test and get invited to the team, and then we'd go somewhere and make-out to celebrate." She replied. "And even though I didn't ace the test, or get an invite, and I got hurt and cried in front of the whole team; I still feel like the day went well, and kind of want to celebrate."

"Well, I can't really argue with that." He said, smiling at her.

"Then why don't you come over here, and we can celebrate." She said.

Scott shifted until he was lying down next to her, and leaned in to kiss her.

"We only have about a half-hour, though." She said, before he could kiss her. "After that, we'll be dangerously close to 'getting into serious trouble' range."

"Then we should probably stop talking, and start kissing." He said.

He leaned in, and started kissing her.

 **THE END**


	4. Cake and Gifts

A/N: I had originally written these next two chapters as one, but I didn't like how long it was; so I broke it into two. Part of this chapter (the part about the school Jubilee is planning to attend) was inspired by a story by Rachel Martin entitled The First Time. It is an incredible story, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine it the plot.

 **Boy-Scout or Rebel**

"Shit!" Jubilation swore, as she knocked over the measuring cup of powdered sugar; spilling it's contents on the floor, where it mixed with an cracked egg, and some flour that she had spilled earlier. "Stupid fucking sling."

She walked back to the cupboard, to retrieve the container of powdered sugar, so she could measure out another portion.

"Need any help?" Raven asked, as she stepped into the kitchen.

"No, I got it." Jubilation replied, struggling to pour the powdered sugar with one arm, since her right arm was still in a sling.

"It sure looks like you could use a hand." Raven said, noticing the mess on both the counter, and floor; as well as on Jubilation herself. "What, exactly, are you doing?"

"I'm making Scott a birthday cake; it's his birthday today." Jubilation replied.

"Ah. That would explain why you are up so early on a Sunday." Raven said. "But that doesn't explain why you don't want any help."

"Because, I want to do it myself." Jubilation replied. "I want it to be a surprise, and I want him to know that I did it all by myself."

"With your arm still in a sling, I doubt you'll be able to get it done, without a little help." Raven said. "But hey; it's your choice." Then she left the room.

"I probably wouldn't have my arm in this sling if it wasn't for you." Jubilation mumbled, as she got back to preparing the frosting, hoping to have it ready in time to put it on the cake that was currently baking.

She knew Scott had a bit of a sweet tooth, despite his protests otherwise; so she had decided to make him a chocolate cake, with a thick layer of chocolate frosting on top. She had also decided that she wanted to make it all from scratch, which was turning out to be harder than she had first thought; especially since she still had her right arm in a sling.

But she was determined to do it, and even more determined to do it without any help; well, except for the help that Kurt and Peter were giving her, by promising to distract Scott until she was done.

Mixing was the worst part, and trying to mix the frosting was proving difficult; since the thicker it got, the harder it was to stir with only one arm. She nearly toppled the bowl twice, and had to use her hip to prevent the bowl from falling onto the floor once.

The buzzer sounded, letting her know that the cake was ready.

"No, no, no; I'm not done yet." She said, as she forgot about the frosting, and went over to the oven. She put on an oven mitt, and reached in to grab the first of two layers. She placed it on the counter, and grabbed the second layer.

The tray slipped out of her hand, as she was transferring it to the counter, and crashed onto the ground; spilling the cake.

"No!" She shouted, as she watched the cake break apart; ruining it.

"What happened?" Peter asked, as he appeared in the kitchen. "Is everything okay?"

"Scott's cake." She said, as she started to tear up. "It's ruined."

Peter walked around the counter to see what had happened. "Oh; wow." He said, when he saw the mess.

She couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and she started crying.

"Hey, hey, hey." Peter said, rushing to her side, and rubbing her back. "Don't cry; I'm sure we can think of something."

"It's too late." She replied, between sobs. "I don't have enough time to make another layer, and, even if I did, I don't have enough ingredients."

"Wait; you still have one layer, though, right?" He asked, looking at the counter, and seeing that she did indeed have one layer safely cooling on the counter.

"Yeah, but it was supposed to be a double layered cake." She replied. "If I just use that one layer, it'll be all small, and Scott will think I didn't care enough to make him a big cake."

Peter started laughing, which only confused her. "Jubes, Scott isn't going to care about the size of the cake." He said. "He'd be happy with a cupcake, as long as it came from you; especially when he finds out that you made it yourself."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "He won't think that I don't care about him?"

"How can you be so insecure?" He asked. "You always seem so confident, but when it comes to Scott, you can't seem to understand that he is completely into you. The guy likes you, Jubes; a lot. So don't worry so much, and just enjoy having the second best looking guy in the school as your boyfriend."

Once again, as only he seemed able to do, he made her laugh. "While I have to admit, Kurt is kind of cute, but I'm pretty sure Scott is cuter." She replied.

"Oh, you wound me." He said, holding his hand to his chest as if he had just been shot. "So, are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah." She replied, wiping the tears from her face. "I guess I'll just make a single layered chocolate cake for him, then."

"Trust me, he'll love it." He said, with a smile. "And I promise not to eat more than one piece."

"I'll tell you what." She said. "Since you cheered me up, and are helping to keep Scott occupied; I'll save the rest of the frosting, for you. I made enough for a double layered cake; so I'm going to have some left over."

"Deal." He said. "Consider Scott thoroughly occupied."

"Just make sure you have him back by noon." She said. "I asked the Professor if we could have a small birthday lunch with just the team...and me."

"Will do." He replied. Then he was gone.

Feeling a little better, but still not great about having dropped one layer of Scott's birthday cake; she got to work finishing it.

* * *

Once the cake had been finished, and the kitchen was cleaned, Jubilation had retreated to her room to get ready; she didn't want to go to Scott's birthday lunch covered in cooking ingredients.

A shower, and a fresh change of clothes later, she was heading down to the dining room, with Scott's present balanced precariously in her left hand. After navigating the stairs, and students running around, enjoying their day off, she arrived at the dining room. She was the first to arrive, so she placed the present on a side table.

"What did you get him?" Peter asked, suddenly appearing beside her.

"I'm not telling you." She replied. "You'll just have to wait and see, like everyone else."

"You know I could probably unwrap it, see for myself, and re-wrap it before you even blinked, right?" He asked, giving her a smirk.

"You better not." She replied, giving him her best glare; which only made him laugh.

"Okay, I won't." He said. "But what I will do, is help you set up."

Before she could reply, he was gone, only to show back up seconds later.

"Done." He said.

She looked over, and saw that the table was set, and the food was already waiting. "I could have done that." She said.

"Yeah; I know." He replied. "But I wanted to give you a break, since your arm is still messed up."

"Thank you." She said. "I should probably go find Scott, and bring him down."

"I'll make a quick round, and make sure the others are on their way." He said.

She left, and headed back upstairs to Scott's room. She knocked, and waited for him to open the door.

"Hey, birthday boy." She said, with a smile. "Are you ready?"

"Ah, yeah." He replied nervously, as he stepped into the hallway.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, as she took his hand, and started walking down the hall.

"No; or yes." He replied. "I don't know."

"What is it?" She asked.

"My parents called this morning, and told me that they were going to be here for lunch." He replied. "Apparently, they talked to the Professor last week, and he told them about lunch and invited them."

"And that's a bad thing?" She asked.

"Well, maybe." He replied, looking around to make sure no one was close enough to hear. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I'm going to see them; I haven't seen them since I went home for a couple of weeks this past summer. But so much has changed in my life, and I don't know how they'll react."

"So much...like us?" She asked, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah." He replied. "That, and the X-Men. I'm just not sure how they'll take it."

"Scott, are you embarrassed about me?" She asked.

"What? No." He replied, stopping her and turning her to face him. "Not at all."

"Then why haven't you told your parents about us?" She asked. "We've been dating for four months now; I already told my mom all about you."

"You have?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Well, yeah." She replied. "I tell my mom everything."

Scott rubbed the back of his neck; something she had learned he did when ever he was uncomfortable. "I guess, it's just that I don't have that kind of relationship with my parents." He replied. "You need to understand that my parents are a little...older; I was a late in life baby. And because they're a little older, they're a little more old fashioned. We've never really talked about my personal life; it's always about school, and my grades. And before I got here, they started to talk to me about my possible future career. So, when we started dating, it never even crossed my mind to tell them about you, since they've never shown any interest in my personal life."

"Are you going to tell them about us today?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied. "I want them to meet you, and see how amazing you are."

"Okay." She said, feeling a little better, but not completely. "Any idea when they'll be here? Because I kind of have everything ready."

Almost as if she had conjured them with that question, the doorbell rang.

"I think that might be them now." He said, looking down the hall at the foyer. "I should probably go answer it."

"Do you want me to come with you, or should I just head to the dining room?" She asked.

"I'll meet you there." He replied, giving her a kiss on the check and releasing her hand. Then he walked towards the foyer, where Raven was walking towards the door.

She hesitated for a moment, before heading to the dining room alone.

* * *

Jubilation stood next to Peter, Kurt, and Ororo, against the wall, as Scott came in with Raven, and his parents.

"Ah, Mr and Mrs Summers; how nice to see you again." Professor Xavier said, as she reached out and shook their hands.

"It's nice to see you too, Professor." Mr Summers said.

"Please, it's Charles." Professor Xavier replied. "How was the drive down?"

"Good." Mr Summers replied. "The roads were surprisingly clear for most of it; although we did hit a little traffic outside of Columbus."

"Wait; you drove down?" Scott asked. "Why didn't you fly?"

"The Corsair's engines are undergoing some upgrades, so I couldn't fly her." Mr Summers replied. "And we needed a way to get your present all the way here from Omaha."

"Omaha?" Peter whispered to Jubilation. "Scott never struck me as corn-husker."

"Shh; I'm trying to listen." She replied.

"When we talked to Charles, he mentioned that you had shown an interest in his motorcycles." Mrs Summers said.

Scott looked guiltily at the Professor, before glancing at Jubilation. "Ah, yeah; I have." He replied.

"Well, Alex left that old Indian in the garage, and we thought you might like to have it." Mr Summers said. "It still needs a lot of work before it's road ready; but we figured it might make a nice hobby for you."

"Really?" Scott asked. "You're giving me Alex's old motorcycle?"

"Yeah." Mr Summers replied. "I'm sure he would have wanted you to have it."

"Thank you." Scott said, shaking his father's hand, and hugging his mother. "I don't know what to say."

"Just promise that you'll be careful, and not drive crazy; like your father and brother." Mrs Summers replied.

"I believe, introductions are in order." Professor Xavier said. "I'm sure you remember Henry."

"Of course; Alex always spoke highly of you." Mr Summers said, shaking his hand.

"And this is Raven." Professor Xavier said.

"Yes, Alex spoke of you often, too." Mrs Summer said. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"And these are some of Scott's friends." Professor Xavier said.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Summers; I'm Jean Grey." Jean said, as she stepped forward and shook their hands. "I'm in Scott's class."

"Nice to meet you, Jean." Mrs Summers said, with a smile.

Scott lead his parents over to the others. "Mom, dad; this is my friend Kurt." Scott said.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt." Mr Summers said, shaking his hand.

Kurt, who looked a little surprised that they hadn't reacted to his appearance, merely shook his hand, and nodded.

"This is Peter, and Ororo." Scott said.

"So, Scott's a mid-westerner?" Peter said, as he shook their hands. "Never pictured him for a country boy."

Ororo elbowed him in the stomach, and gave him a nasty look.

Scott reached out and took Jubilation's arm, pulling her closer. "And this is Jubilation; my girlfriend." He said.

"She is?" Mrs Summers asked, looking at Jubilation closely.

"Well, then it's especially nice to meet you." Mr Summers said, pulling her into a loose hug and kissing her on the cheek.

"Scott's never mentioned a girlfriend before." Mrs Summers said. "How long have you two been dating?"

"Not now, Katherine." Mr Summers said. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know her better later. Right now, I'm sure everyone is anxious to eat."

"Oh course." Mrs Summers replied. "We'll all sit down later and talk."

Scott smiled at Jubilation, but she could tell that it was a nervous smile; which matched her feelings exactly.

* * *

Lunch went by in a haze, for Jubilation; as she was worried about having to talk to Scott's parents after it was over. She was so out of it, that Peter had to nudge her with his elbow to get her attention. "Hey Jubes." He said, when he finally got her attention. "The cake."

"Oh." She said, standing up. "I'll be right back."

Everyone watched her leave, only to return moments later balancing a cake in her left hand. She placed it on the table in front of Scott, and sat back down. "Happy birthday." She said.

"Oh, wow; thanks, Jubes." He said, giving her a smile.

"She made it herself." Peter said. "I know; I saw the mess."

Ororo elbowed him again.

"What?" Peter asked, looking at her.

She shook her head, but didn't reply.

"You made this?" Scott asked, ignoring Peter and Ororo.

"Yeah." Jubilation replied, blushing. "I wanted to do something special for your birthday."

"Thank you." He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

Her blush just got even deeper, and she avoided looking at his parents.

"It's kind of small." Jean said. "Is there even going to be enough for everyone?"

Jubilation shot Jean a glare, and wished that she hadn't invited her; but she was Scott's friend, so she didn't say what was really on her mind. "I'm sure there will be." She replied.

* * *

Once the cake was eaten, it was time for the presents.

There were only two left, and Jubilation wanted to make sure her's was the last one; so she picked it up, and held onto it, until the Professor handed his to Scott.

"This is from me, Scott." Professor Xavier said, as he handed Scott a small box. "I already talked to your parents about it, and, while it took some convincing on my part, they are in agreement that it's something you're going to need."

Scott opened the box, and looked over at the Professor. "Sir?" He asked.

"Yes." Professor Xavier replied, with a nod.

Scott pulled out a set of car keys. "A Car?" He asked. "Why?"

"So you have a way to get around when you go to college." Mrs Summers replied. "You're going to need a car."

"I don't know what to say, Professor." Scott said. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure, Scott." Professor Xavier replied. "I can tell that you are going to do great things in life, and if I can help in any way, I'm glad."

Scott placed the keys down, and got up to shake the Professor's hand.

"Well, it looks like there's only one present left." Peter said.

Scott sat back down, and looked at Jubilation.

Suddenly, she wasn't feeling as good about her present. Scott had already been given his brother's old motorcycle, and now a new car; how could she compete with that. "Ah, here, Scott; happy birthday." She said, as she handed him the box.

He took the box, and carefully unwrapped it. Then he removed the top. "Oh, wow." He said, as he looked inside. "Sweet."

He removed the Baltimore Orioles baseball cap, and put it on; a huge smile on his face. Then he took the team jersey and unfolded it.

"I hope I got the right size." Jubilation said, as she avoided looking at anyone other than Scott.

"I'm sure it's good." He replied, looking at the back. "Nice, a Ripken jersey."

"I remember you cheering for Baltimore this summer, and saying that he was your favorite player." She said.

"He is." He said, his smile growing even bigger. "This is the best, Jubes; I love it. Thank you."

He leaned over to give her a kiss, but she turned her head at the last second; so he kissed her cheek. She was too embarrassed to kiss him in front of his parents.

As Scott sat back, she glanced over at his parents, and saw his father smiling; his mother, on the other hand, still had the same stoic expression she had on since Scott introduced her as his girlfriend.

* * *

Jubilation was about to follow the others out after lunch, but Mrs Summers stopped her in her tracks. "Where are you going, dear?" She asked. "I was looking forward to getting to know you better."

"Ah, I was going to give you some family time." Jubilation replied. "But I'll stay if you want."

"Yes, I insist." Mrs Summers said. "We're only going to be here until tomorrow; so that doesn't give us a lot of time to get to know you."

"What do you say, we go check out your new car, Scott?" Mr Summers said.

"Ah, sure thing, dad." Scott replied, taking Jubilation's hand in his, and leading them through the house to the garage.

Once the lights were on, it wasn't hard to find which car was Scott's; it was parked right in the middle, pointed towards the door, and ready to go.

"Wow." Jubilation said.

"Yeah, wow." Scott said.

"I believe, that's a Mazda RX-7, if I'm not mistaken." Mr Summers said, as he approached the car. "Yep, I was right."

"It's a little...sporty." Mrs Summers said, as she walked over to stand next to Mr Summers. "When Professor Xavier talked about him buying Scott a car for school; I assumed it would be something a little more practical."

"Katherine." Mr Summers said, looking at her and shaking his head. "The man bought Scott a car; I don't think we have the right to nitpick his choice in model." Then he turned to Scott. "Why don't you take your girlfriend for the maiden voyage in it? I'll go find Charles, and ask him where we can put your bike; while you're gone."

"Are you sure?" Scott asked. "I can help you unload the bike."

"I'm not that old, Scott." Mr Summers said, with a smile. "Besides, if I really need help, I'm sure I can find someone around."

"Um, okay." Scott said, turning to look at Jubilation. "You want to go for a ride, Jubes?"

"Sure." She replied. "I'd love too."

Scott opened the passenger side door for her, and helped her in. Then he closed the door, and went around to the driver's side. Once he was in, he helped her buckle up, before buckling his own seat-belt.

He started the engine, and pulled out into the driveway.

Once they were on the road, she finally said what was on her mind. "I don't think your mom likes me." She said, looking at the scenery pass them by.

"I wouldn't say that." Scott replied. "Just give her time to get to know you. I kind of sprung this on them, by not having told them about you earlier; I'm sorry, about that."

"It's fine." She said. "Your dad seems really nice, and I think, as long as he's around, he won't let your mom get too hard on me."

"Yeah, dad is like one of the friendliest people in the world." He said. "I knew he would like you right away."

"So, do you really like your present?" She asked.

"Are you kidding me?" He replied, adjusting the cap that he hadn't taken off since unwrapping it. "That was the best present I ever got."

"Even better than a motorcycle, or a car?" She asked.

"Even better." He replied. "Because it came from you, and it was something personal; something you learned about me. I mean, you even knew that Ripken was my favorite player; that is awesome."

"I'm glad you like it." She said. "I was afraid that, after the car, nothing I could give you would matter."

"Anything you gave me would have mattered to me, Jubes." He said. "Because it would have come from you. I just feel bad about the present I got you for your birthday, now."

"Why?" She asked, reaching into her shirt to pull out a gold necklace, with a heart pendant. "I love it; I only take it off to shower."

"Yeah, but it wasn't like what you got me." He replied. "You got me something personal; I got you something that I thought looked pretty and you'd like."

"But Scott, it's so sparkly." She said, with a laugh. "Guys can never go wrong with getting a girl something sparkly; jewelry is always a great gift."

"Well, I promise you, that for Christmas, I'm going to put a lot of thought into your present." He said. "I'm going to get you something that is perfect; even better than jewelry."

"I don't know, Scott." She said, tucking the necklace away. "It's hard to beat jewelry."

She started to feel a little better, but soon noticed that they were heading back to the Institute, and she was going to have to face Mrs Summers again.

* * *

Scott pulled into the garage to find his mother talking to Jean.

"Wow, nice car, Scott." Jean said, as he got out, and helped Jubilation. "You have to promise to take me for a ride sometime."

"Ah, sure; but some other time." He replied, distractedly. "Where's dad?"

"He's unloading the motorcycle over in the workshop." Mrs Summers replied. "Charles suggested it as a good place to store it until you've got it up and running again."

"Okay, I should go see if he needs a hand." Scott said, reaching for Jubilation's hand.

"Oh, leave your little friend here with us." Mrs Summers said. "We can have a little girl talk, while you help your father."

Scott looked at Jubilation, and she nodded her head. "Okay." He said. "I'll be right back."

He ran outside, and disappeared around the corner.

"So, Jubilation...that's an interesting name." Mrs Summers said. "Where is it from?"

"Ah, I'm not exactly sure." Jubilation replied. "I never really asked."

"Well, where are you from?" Mrs Summers asked. "Are you from around here?"

"I'm from California." Jubilation replied. "Beverly Hills, to be exact."

"Were your parents born there?" Mrs Summers asked.

Normally, this line of questioning would have Jubilation seething; she hated people who just assumed because she was Chinese, she was an immigrant. But since it was Scott's mother, and she didn't want to offend her, she just bite her tongue. "Yes." She replied. "My Grandparents are the ones that immigrated from China."

"Interesting." Mrs Summers said, sounding anything but interested. "Jean was just telling me that she's applying to Columbia University Medical School; where are you planning on going to university?"

"Oh, Jubilation is only sixteen, Mrs Summers." Jean replied, with a laugh. "She's still a sophomore in high school."

"You are?" Mrs Summers asked. "I see."

"Yeah, but I was planning on going into fashion." Jubilation replied, feeling the need to defend herself. "I'm going to apply to the Fashion Institute of Technology; I'm thinking of doing a double major in fashion design, and business management."

"I guess it's better than nothing." Mrs Summers mumbled. "So, I take it that you are a mutant too? Like Scott."

"Yes, I am." Jubilation replied.

"Yeah, but her powers aren't really anything spectacular." Jean said. "She can put on a pretty light show, but nothing compared to what Scott can do; his powers are impressive."

Before Jubilation could explode in anger, Scott came running back, with his father jogging behind him.

"We're back." Scott said, a little out of breath. "Motorcycles unloaded, and everything."

"So, what say Scott takes us on a tour of the grounds?" Mr Summers said. "I, for one, would love to see them."

"Sure, it'll give us a chance to talk...alone." Mrs Summers said, glancing over at Jubilation.

"Ah, I think I'll go work on my World History homework." Jubilation said. "It was nice meeting you, Mr and Mrs Summers."

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner?" Mr Summers said, ignoring the look his wife was giving him. "We're staying in town for the night, and heading back tomorrow morning, but we had hoped to take Scott out for a family dinner, and I would love the chance to get to know you better; I feel like I've barely had any time with you."

Jubilation looked at Scott, who was nodding. "Okay." She replied. "I would love to join you for dinner."

"Excellent." Mr Summers replied, smiling. "How does five o'clock sound?"

"Good." Jubilation replied.

"Okay, then; Scott will come get you around four-thirty, and we'll all go out to dinner." Mr Summers said.

"Sounds like fun." Jubilation replied, forcing a smile on her face.

She turned to leave, and heard Jean saying goodbye to Mrs Summers, before following Jubilation out.

Jubilation waited until they were far enough away form the garage, before turning to face Jean.

"What is your problem?" She asked, angrily. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend, Jubes." Jean asked, looking confused. "Why would you even say that?"

"Because, lately, you've been acting like a total...bitch." Jubilation replied. "You put me down in front of everyone, every chance you get, and you belittle me in front of Scott and his parents. Friends don't do those types of things."

"Maybe, instead of accusing me, you need to take a long hard look at yourself, Jubilation." Jean said, standing straight; as if to emphasize their difference in height. "I'm only speaking the truth. If you think that what I say is belittling, or putting you down; then maybe you need to understand that that's just who you are, and deal with it."

Jean shoved past Jubilation, slamming into her right shoulder. "Ow!" Jubilation cried out. "You fucking bitch."

She was about to use her powers to blast Jean in the back, as she walked away; but a younger student walked into the hall from the kitchen, and got in between them.

She retreated to her room, where she locked the door, and collapsed on the bed. Then she started crying into her pillow.

 **THE END**


	5. Dinner with the Family

A/N: I think I've gone about as far as I can with this story; which is a lot further than I ever thought I would get when I wrote the first chapter. I have an epilogue that I'm working on, and then I think I'm going to put it away. It was a lot of fun to write, and I'm hoping it was fun for you to read.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine it the plot.

 **Boy-Scout or Rebel**

Jubilation had stopped crying a couple of hours earlier, and then spent the rest of the time getting herself ready for dinner with Scott and his parents. Despite the fact that she felt like it was a hopeless cause with Scott's mom, she still wanted to make as good an impression as possible. So, when Scott knocked at her door to pick her up, she checked her reflection one last time, straightened out her dress, and opened the door.

"Hey, Scott; I'm all ready." She said, with a smile.

"Wow, you look great." He said, taking in her outfit of choice.

"Thank you." She replied. "It's one of my creations."

"Wait, you made this?" He asked. "I didn't know you made dresses too."

"I don't normally." She replied, as she took his hand, and started walking down the hall. "I usually make tops, and I've dabbled with a couple of skirts and some pants; but I really wanted to try making a dress, and while you were visiting your parents this summer, I gave it a shot. I'm just glad that you like it."

"I love it." He replied quickly, and then started blushing. "Ah, my parents are going to meet us there. I'm going to take my new car." His smile disappeared, and she noticed a change in his posture.

"Scott, did something happen?" She asked.

"Nothing." He replied. "I just...nothing."

She wanted to press him, but knew that he was extremely private, and would only close up even more; so she just let it go, knowing that he would tell her when he was ready.

* * *

They arrived at the restaurant, and headed inside; Scott's parents were already there waiting for them.

"Hello again, Mr and Mrs Summers." Jubilation said, as she took her seat between Scott and his father.

"Hello, Jubes." Mr Summers said. "Can I call you Jubes? I heard Scott call you that, and I think it's a cute name."

"Ah, sure." She replied. "I never really liked it, when I was a kid, but it's grown on me since Scott started using it." She smiled at Scott.

The waiter came and took their orders, leaving them alone to talk.

"Well, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" Mr Summers asked. "I mean, you talked to Katherine a bit, but I don't really know much about you."

"Well, I'm from Beverly Hills, California." She replied. "And I'm Chinese."

"And how long have you been going to school at Xavier's?" He asked.

"Three years now." She replied, leaning in to whisper. "I manifested my powers early. Professor Xavier showed up shortly after, and convinced my parents that I would be safer in Westchester."

"Wow, so young." He said. "And yet you took on the challenge of moving all the way across the country, far away from your family; I'm impressed."

"Thank you, sir." She replied, blushing.

"On the subject of school; did you know that she's only a sophomore in high school?" Mrs Summers said, speaking for the first time since they arrived. "Barely even sixteen?"

"Ah, sophomore year; I remember that." Mr Summers said, with a smile. "Oh the fun times I had; and the trouble I got into. Not as memorable as my junior year, though; that's the year I first met Katherine. She was the prettiest freshman in the whole school."

The more time she spent with Scott's father, the more she liked him. It was obvious that he was trying hard to not let his wife pick on her too much; and she wished she could thank him for that.

"Jubes is the top student in her class." Scott said. "She's even taking a couple of junior level classes."

"Well, that's where the similarities end then." Mr Summers said, with a laugh. "I was a straight C student; wouldn't have even gone to college if I hadn't joined the military."

"You were in the military?" She asked.

"Yep; I'm a retired Air Force Major." He replied. "These days, when I fly, it's for myself."

"Dad has a plane that he bought years ago; the Corsair, he calls it." Scott said. "He used to take me up with him all the time; even showed me the basics."

"Never hurts to learn." Mr Summers said.

The waiter returned with their salads, and the conversation stopped for a little bit.

"So, Jubilation, where was it that you told me you were planning on going to university?" Mrs Summers said, after the salads were taken away.

"Ah, the Fashion Institute of Technology." Jubilation replied, looking over to see Mr Summers reaction. "I want to double major in fashion design, and business management; I'm hoping to start my own fashion line, someday."

"Double major?" Mr Summers asked. "And your own fashion line? Well, you certainly are ambitious; good for you."

Jubilation blushed again, and wished that she could hug the man for being so nice to her. "Thank you, sir." She replied.

"Jubes, actually makes a lot of her own clothes already." Scott said. "She made the dress she's wearing tonight."

"Did you, now?" Mr Summers asked. "That is fantastic. How did you get interested in fashion?"

"Well, I've always been into design." She replied. "I used to design clothes for my dolls, when I was a kid, and my mom would help me sew them together. Then, just before I moved to Westchester, I started making some of my own clothes."

"Well, it's good for you, that you found your passion so early in life." Mr Summers said. "Some people take a lot longer, and some never find it. Mine was speed; the faster the better. It's the main reason why I chose the Air Force. I don't think Scott has quite figured his out yet. But he's still young; there's plenty of time."

The waiter arrived with the meals, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

After dessert, Jubilation had gone to the bathroom, and was walking back to the table when she heard Mrs Summers talking from around the corner; so she stopped and listened.

"He's not a child anymore, Christopher." Mrs Summers said. "He's eighteen; it's time he starts acting like an adult."

"Katherine, times have changed." Mr Summers replied. "It's not like it was when we were younger; people can take their time, and figure things out later in life."

"I just don't want him holding himself back because of her." Mrs Summers said. "He hasn't even decided which universities he's going to apply too; I'm afraid that he's going to make his decisions based on her, and where she is."

"I haven't decided on which universities, because I'm not even sure I'm going to go to university." Scott said.

"What?" Mrs Summers asked. "You hear him, Christopher; this is what I'm worried about."

"Scott, I may not agree with your mother about Jubilation; but I do agree with her on the need for you to go to university." Mr Summers said. "Getting a degree can make a huge difference in your life later on."

"I know, dad." Scott replied. "But what would happen if, while away at school, my glasses got knocked off? You remember what happened back home when my powers manifested? I'm not sure I want to put other people at risk like that."

"You can't keep yourself hidden away forever, Scott." Mr Summers said. "You have to live your life."

"I am living my life; at the Institute." Scott replied. "I can just be myself, and not have to worry about people finding out I'm a mutant. I'm not saying that I'm never going to go to university, but I'm not sure if it's for me right now. I was actually thinking of asking the Professor if I could work as his teacher's assistant, after graduation. Since he's an actual professor, he might be able to get me some university credits for it, and, in a few years, once I've accumulated enough credits, I might go to university and finish off a degree in education."

"Really, Scott?" Mrs Summers said, with a sigh. "You can't be serious?"

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Mr Summers said, sounding thoughtful. "Hear me out Katherine. It may not be how we did things, in our time, but it's a plan; as solid a plan as we've ever gotten out of him. He's taking into account things that we're not; namely his powers, and exposing himself as a mutant. It may be a different path, but if it leads to him getting a degree; I'm okay with it."

"I still think this has more to do with that girl, than anything else." Mrs Summers said. "I mean, seriously, Scott; do you really see a future with her?"

"I wouldn't be with her if I didn't think there could be a future with her." Scott replied. "But I'm not making any long term plans just yet, either. We're both still really young, and a lot can happen before we ever get to that point. Just because you got married when you were sixteen, and dad was eighteen, doesn't mean that that's what I'm going to do; times have changed. Most people, these days, don't get married and start having families until their mid-twenties, or early thirties; I have time."

"I just don't get why you're not with someone more like that Jean girl; she seemed nice, and I could tell that she liked you." Mrs Summers said. "She's your age, and she already has her whole career planned out."

"So does Jubes, in case you weren't listening." Scott replied.

"Fashion? Really?" Mrs Summers asked. "What kind of career is that? It's a joke, is what it is."

"I'm done with this conversation." Scott said. "I'm starting to get a headache."

"Scott..." Mrs Summers said.

"No mom, no more." Scott said, sternly. "I love you, but I can't listen to any more of this. I told you this afternoon, while I was showing you around the grounds; so stop it. I know you want the best for me, but you can't predict the future any more than I can. Maybe Jubes and I are soul-mates, and we'll eventually get married, have three kids, and live in a house in the suburbs; maybe not. Maybe there's a future out there where I'm married to Jean; who knows. Heck there may even be a future out there where Jean goes crazy and kills me; I don't know. But what I do know is that I love Jubes, and she's the one I want to be with; if you can't accept that, then we're going to have a problem."

 _'He loves me?'_ Jubilation thought, as she replayed his final words in her head. She heard a chair being pushed back sharply, and decided that she should make her appearance; so she turned around the corner, and pretended that she hadn't heard anything. "I'm back." She said.

"Okay." Scott said, looking over at her. "We're going to head back now; it's getting late, and we both have classes tomorrow morning."

"Oh, okay." Jubilation said, turning to face Mr and Mrs Summers. "Thank you for dinner, and it's been a pleasure meeting you both."

"It was a delight to meet you, Jubes." Mr Summers said, standing up to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry about my wife." He whispered into her ear. Then he pulled back, and gave her a huge smile.

Mrs Summers walked around the table, and gave Jubilation a brief hug. "It was nice to meet you." She said.

Scott took Jubilation's hand, and lead her outside to his car.

She was a little surprised when Scott turned away from the direction of the Institute, but she didn't say anything.

He drove to the lookout point where they had their first kiss and parked.

Jubilation could tell by the way he slumped back in his seat, that he was still upset about the conversation he had just had with his parents. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied, reaching under his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I just wish...nothing."

She placed her hand on his knee and squeezed. "Scott, I know you're a very private guy, and I can understand that you can't talk about it right now; but I'm always here if you ever need someone to talk too." She said.

He smiled at her, and squeezed her hand. "Thanks, Jubes." He replied. "It means a lot to me, to hear you say that."

"I mean it, Scott." She said. "I care about you, and I'll be here if you need to talk."

"I know." He replied, giving her a smile. "I'm just not ready to talk about this stuff yet."

"Okay." She said. Then she looked around the inside of the car. "You know, I didn't really take the time to look before, but this is a really cool car."

"Yeah, it is pretty cool." He replied, seemingly relaxing a little now that the subject had changed.

"Just a shame there's no back seat." She said, holding back a smile. "Would have been nice to have a place to fool around a bit."

She could hear Scott sitting up straighter in his seat. "What?" He asked, his voice cracking a little.

"It's a little hard to do anything more than kissing at the Institute; what with the Professor's powers, and Raven constantly on the prowl for trouble-makers." She replied, as nonchalantly as she could. "Just saying, that it would have been nice to have a back seat in here, so we could get away, from time to time, and do...stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" He asked, visibly swallowing.

"I don't know. Just...stuff; like more than just kissing." She replied, blushing profusely. "I mean, I don't think I'm ready to go all the way just yet; even though there are times when I look at you, and totally think that we should just do it. But, I'm ready to do more than just kiss."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "Because, I don't want you to think that you need to do anything because of me. I'm okay with just kissing you; I can wait until you're ready for more."

"I'm sure." She replied. "I want to do more than kiss; not because I feel pressured, but because I really want too."

"Okay." Scott said. "If you really want too, than we can try doing more than just kissing sometime."

"Good." She replied. Then she started lifting the strap that held her sling around her neck, over her head.

"Jubes, your shoulder." Scott said, turning in his seat to face her.

"It's fine." She replied, removing the sling completely, and flexing her hand. "Henry said I only had to wear it for a week, anyways."

"But it hasn't been a week yet." He said.

"Yeah, but it's going to get in the way." She replied.

"In the way of what?" He asked.

Instead of reply, she climbed into his lap; sitting with her back to the door. "There, that's much better." She said, with a smile. "No back seat, but it's a good thing I'm so small." Then she leaned in, and started kissing him.

They kissed for a while, Scott seemingly not taking the hint that she wanted more, or not sure what more entailed; so she had to build up the courage to say something that would let him know what she wanted.

Finally, she pulled back just enough to speak. "Scott, with the way this dress is cut, wearing a bra is a little uncomfortable." She whispered. "So...I'm not wearing one."

The way his eyebrows shot up over the rim of his glasses, she was sure that, if she could see them, his eyes would be huge; and that made her smile.

* * *

They arrived back at the Institute later that evening, and, after parking the car, headed inside. Scott walked her to her room, holding her hand, and kissed her goodnight.

She stepped into her room, and turned on the lights, before changing into her pajamas. Just as she finished changing, there was a knock at her door.

She opened it to find Ororo standing there. "Ah, hey, Ororo." She said.

"Hey, Jubilation." Ororo said, stepping into her room. "How was dinner with Scott's parents?"

Jubilation closed the door, and went to sit down on her bed. "It was okay." She replied. "Scott's mom hates me, and thinks he should he dating Jean; but at least his dad seems to really like me."

"It doesn't surprise me, that his mom dislikes you." Ororo said, sitting on the only chair in the room. "It's come to my attention that mothers in western culture tend not to like anything too different from themselves, when it comes to girls dating their sons. But that should not concern you; it's how Scott feels about you that matters."

Jubilation started smiling as she remembered what Scott had told his parents, while she had been listening. "He told them that he loves me." She said. "He didn't know I could hear him, I was around the corner, but he said it."

"He did?" Ororo asked, suddenly a lot more interested. "Has he said it to you yet?"

"No." Jubilation replied. "But he's a very private guy, and expressing his feelings is hard for him; so I can wait."

"Do you love him?" Ororo asked.

"I don't know." Jubilation replied, dropping back onto her bed. "I've never been in love. How do I know?"

"I couldn't tell you that." Ororo replied. "I guess you'll just know when you are."

"Yeah." Jubilation sighed. She found it weird that, of all the girls at the Institute, Ororo had become one of her best friends, despite the age difference. Ororo was also the only girl who didn't seem even remotely jealous of her dating Scott; which was probably the reason they had managed to get along so well.

"So...how did things go after dinner?" Ororo asked, with a hint of a smile in her voice.

Jubilation lifted her head to see that Ororo was smiling, knowingly. "What are you talking about?" She asked, forcing herself not to smile.

"I may not be from here, but I'm not stupid, Jubilation." Ororo replied. "The restaurant is only thirty minutes away, and I doubt dinner took four hours; so, since you got home around nine-thirty, that means that there is some time unaccounted for."

"Scott was feeling a little down, after dinner; so he drove to the lookout point where we had out first kiss, and parked." Jubilation replied.

"And?" Ororo asked.

"And, we kissed." Jubilation replied.

"And?" Ororo asked.

"And...stuff." Jubilation replied, blushing profusely again.

"Did you...what's the term I've heard people use? Do it?" Ororo asked.

"No." Jubilation replied, quickly, with a giggle. "We didn't go all the way just yet. We're waiting until the time is right; until we're both ready."

"Ah, but you did do more than just kiss." Ororo said, and it was obviously not a question.

"Yeah." Jubilation replied. "We did more."

"How was it?" Ororo asked.

"Ororo?" Jubilation gasped, sitting back up, and looking at the other girl in shock. "I'm not going to tell you that."

"Why not?" Ororo asked. "I would tell you."

Jubilation started laughing as she threw herself back onto the bed; Ororo soon joined her.

 **THE END**


	6. What the Future Holds

A/N: This is the final chapter I'm going to write for this. I'm fairly confident in saying that I'm done with it now. This story went further than I ever envisioned, and I'm quite happy with the results.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine it the plot.

 **Boy-Scout or Rebel**

In the end, Jubilation and Scott had dated for a little less than four years before they broke it off. It hadn't been a fight, or another person that came between them, it was simply growing up that drove them apart.

As he got older, Scott got more serious about his role with the X-Men, and the lines between Scott and Cyclops started to get blurred; causing some tension between them.

Jubilation, on the other hand, got more serious too, but about her future. She had dreams that didn't involve being an X-Man forever, and she was going to work towards those dreams.

It was during her freshman year at University that they broke up; the strain of their individual paths, as well as the fact that she was living in New York City, away from him, being too much to handle.

They broke up on Easter weekend, 1988; when she had come back to the Institute for the long weekend. It wasn't loud, and no one even knew it had happened until they noticed that something seemed wrong with Scott after Jubilation had returned to school.

They would remain friends; although, during the first couple of years, things sometimes got a little awkward between them.

It hadn't taken long for Jean to sink her claws into Scott; as Jubilation found out from Ororo during one of their weekly phone calls. While it would take some time before she would eventually convince him to ask her out, she made it clear to any woman that showed any interest in Scott that she had claims on him.

At first, the news had upset Jubilation; thinking about Scott with anyone did that to her. But she eventually came to accept that Scott was going to move on, and she wanted him too; even if it was with Jean. It's not like she hadn't tried to move on from him herself; she had dated a couple of guys after they broke up, but nothing serious. Once she was able to accept that Scott and Jean were dating, she felt more free to pursue an actual relationship.

The problem there was that she found herself comparing every guy she dated, too Scott; and none of them even came close. It wasn't something she did consciously; she would just notice things about them that didn't measure up to Scott. She felt like she could hardly be blamed for it, though; Scott was an important part of her life. He was her first real boyfriend, her first love, and her first lover.

It was something that she denied doing, until Peter had proved it to her by making her explain why her recent relationship hadn't worked out. The realization was enough to make her decide she needed even more distance between herself and Scott; so after graduation, she moved to San Francisco to try her hand at running her own fashion line. She limited her visits to once a year; unless something big happened.

It seemed to be working, as she soon found herself in a semi-serious relationship with a screenwriter. It would be her longest relationship since Scott, but would ultimately end like all the others.

While that was going on, Ororo told her about a new arrival at the Institute, some guy named Logan. The way Ororo described him, he was a cross between a lumberjack and a trucker; a muscle-bound hairy guy, who was also a bit of a foul-mouthed chauvinistic pig. She explained that he had instantly taken a liking to Jean, and Jean didn't seem to mind the attention. Scott, on the other hand, was having a hard time dealing with this sudden competition for Jean's attention. Jubilation's heart went out to him, but she made sure that she didn't try to contact him; for fear that she might make things awkward between them again.

About a year after Logan's appearance, something big happened back at the Institute; but she was told not to come, by Ororo. Apparently, Jean had some kind of breakdown, and just snapped. She took on a whole new persona, and nearly killed everyone there; she had killed some other people, though, before she was eventually stopped. Unfortunately, stopped meant that she had to be killed. It took some convincing, but Ororo ended up telling her that the Professor had had to do it; but only after using Scott to distract her. Ororo said that Scott was not taking it well, and she was afraid that things might never be the same between him and the Professor ever again; she was afraid that Scott might follow in Peter's footsteps, and join Magneto.

Jubilation had wanted to go even more after hearing that, but Ororo convinced her that Scott was not in a good place right then, and her appearance might just confuse him even more; so she stayed away until the funeral. And even then, she flew in the day of, stayed as far from him as possible, and left that night. She felt horrible for ignoring him, but she knew that if she spent too much time around him, while he was so obviously broken, she might do something that she would eventually regret.

That next week, when she called Ororo, she found out that Scott had disappeared the day after the funeral; but not before having a heating argument with the Professor. Ororo said that they still hadn't heard anything from Scott, and had no idea where he might have gone. He had just packed a bag, taken his brother's motorcycle, and drove off.

It wouldn't be until a month later that Ororo told her that she had finally been contacted by Scott. He was alive and well, but said he wouldn't be back anytime soon; if ever. Apparently, he had driven down to Florida, and gotten hired as a deck hand on a fishing trawler named the Acadia. It was a far cry from the image Jubilation had of Scott in her head, but she figured that if he was as broken as he had seemed, than anything was possible; she had never thought he would ever quit the X-Men, and he had already done that.

Ororo kept her up to date on Scott, although his contact with Ororo was sparse; so she often went weeks with no news.

Then, about a year later, the updates stopped. Scott had told Ororo that he was leaving Florida, but wouldn't tell her where he was heading; just that it wasn't back to Westchester. He swore that he would keep in touch, but he had lied; something else that had changed about him since Jean died.

Weeks turned into months, and she would ask, every time she talked to Ororo, if she had any news, but the answer was always no. She even called the Professor and begged him to use Cerebro to find Scott. He told her that he didn't want to invade Scott's privacy, especially after the way he had left things between them, but he would look into it for her. He got back to her later that day, but would only tell her that Scott was alive and well, somewhere in Alaska.

It put her mind a ease a little to know he was okay, but she still hated not knowing what he was up too. So she did something she hoped wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass; she hired a private investigator to track down Scott, and find out what he was doing. It cost quite a bit, but her fashion line had been doing well recently, and she decided that she could spare the money.

When she got his report, she was relieved. Scott hadn't gone up to Alaska to be alone, but was apparently living in his grandparents guesthouse; flying planes for their charter flight company. She still wasn't happy with the lack of contact she had with him, but she could at least rest easier now that she knew what she did.

Ororo was also relieved when Jubilation told her what she had found out, and she had quickly passed on the news to everyone else.

But that was not the end of the story.

About a month later, while Jubilation was busily working on some new designs for her fall line, her assistant buzzed her phone. She sighed at the interruption, and walked over to her desk to press the button. "Yeah, Kimmy; I'm kind of busy here." She said, a little more angrily than she intended too.

"Um, there's someone here to see you." Kimmy replied.

"Do they have an appointment?" Jubilation asked, knowing that she sometimes got so focused on her work that she forgot what time it was.

"No." Kimmy replied. "But he says that he needs to see you."

"No appointment, no meeting." Jubilation replied. "I'm sorry, but I'm really behind on the fall line, and if I don't get these designs done by Monday, the shit is going to really hit the fan." She pressed the button, cutting off the conversation, and returned to her workbench.

But before she could even pick up her pencil, her phone buzzed again.

She groaned, and walked back over to press the button. "What now?" She asked, irritation seeping into her voice.

"Um, he's insisting that he has to see you." Kimmy replied. "I told him that he'll just need to make an appointment, but he said that he can't wait."

Jubilation sighed. "Did he give you a name?" She asked.

"Yes; he said his name is Mr Daniels." Kimmy replied.

Jubilation recognized the name of the P.I she had hired, and was curious why he was here; he had already sent her his report. "Send him in." She said, pressing the button and moving around her desk to greet him.

But the man who walked in was not the P.I she had hired. He was too tall, and had a full head of long brown hair; where the P.I had been mostly bald. He also had a neatly trimmed beard, and a pair of red sunglasses; sunglasses that triggered her memories.

It took her a moment, but the shock wore off eventually, and she realized just who it was standing inside her studio. "Scott?" She asked.

"Jubes." He replied, with a nod.

She didn't hesitate, and rushed towards him; wrapping her arms around him. "What are you doing here? How did you even find me?" She asked.

"You're not the only person who can hire a private investigator." He replied.

She pulled away, immediately going on the defensive. "Hey, it's not my fault." She said, angrily. "You're the one that stopped checking in with Ororo; what was I supposed to think? We had no idea where you had gone, or if you were even alive; so I asked the Professor to look for you." She saw his cheek twitch at the mention of the Professor, but didn't let up. "He didn't want too, but I begged him; he would only tell me that you were in Anchorage, Alaska. So I hired a P.I, and had him look into it."

"Yeah, I met him." Scott replied. "Not the greatest use of your money; the guy wasn't even sneaky at all. He came right up to me, introduced himself, and told me that you had hired him to find out about me."

"He did what?" She asked. "What a total hack. I thought he had actually found out the info with actual...work; if I had known he just going to talk to you directly, I would never had hired him."

Scott tilted his head to the side, and she could see his eyebrows lift above the rim of his glasses.

"Okay, I still would have hired him; but I wouldn't have been happy about it." She replied. Then she punched him in the chest as hard as she could several times. "Months, Scott; almost a whole fucking year with no contact. I thought we were your friends; you asshole."

"You're right; I'm an asshole." He replied, grabbed her wrists to stop the onslaught of punches.

"I'm right?" She asked, smiling.

"God, you're not even in school anymore, and you still perk up at being right about anything." He said, shaking his head. "Yes, little miss top of her class, you're right. When I saw just how far you went to find out about me, I realized that I had been neglecting my friends; people I care about. So I paid him to give me your contact information, and made plans to come down here and surprise you. It took a little longer than I would have liked, since we don't get many charters going this far south; so I had to wait for our monthly supply run to Seattle ."

She smiled, and hugged him again.

"Oh, and don't bother calling 'Ro; I called her from my hotel, before coming here." He said, returning the hug. "Man, you let me off easy compared to the tongue lashing I got from her; I had to promise to go visit soon."

"She was worried too." She said, releasing him and stepping back.

"Do you really need to work, or do you want to head out for a bite to eat?" He asked.

"I really need to work." She said, her shoulders dropping in defeat. "But I don't want you to go; I want you to tell me all about what you've been up to."

"I could meet you later, and we could talk?" He suggested.

"Absolutely not." She replied. "I'm not letting you out of my sight until I get the whole story." Suddenly, she had an idea. "Oh, I know; I'll have Kimmy go grab us some food, and we can eat here. Then we can talk while I work. Unless, you don't want too?"

"Well if my options are that, or sit around hungry; I guess I'll go with that." He said, shaking his head. "What do you feel like eating?"

"Well, I know Chinese food is out of the question." She said, with a knowing smile.

"Hey, that's entirely your fault." He said, pointing a finger at her. "If you hadn't brought me home to meet your parents that one summer, and I didn't get to taste how good authentic Chinese food is, I might be okay with restaurant made Chinese food."

"We could do pizza; but the grease could really mess with my work." She said.

"Then pizza's out." He replied.

"I got it." She said, walking over to her desk. "There's this amazing Indian place just down the block; their butter chicken is to die for. And it isn't greasy, so no mess."

"Sounds good to me." He replied. "I haven't had Indian food since New York."

She pressed the button on her phone, and waited for Kimmy to answer.

"Yes, Miss Lee?" Kimmy asked. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine, Kimmy." Jubilation replied. "Mr Daniels turned out to be an old friend from New York."

"Okay; good." Kimmy said. Jubilation knew that the girl had probably been ready to call security at a moments notice, if she felt like Scott had been a threat. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Actually, we're kind of hungry, but I can't leave until I finish these designs; so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind stepping out to pick us up something to eat?"

"Sure thing, Miss Lee." Kimmy replied. "What do you want?"

"Head to the Indian place down the street, and get two number fives; extra naan bread." Jubilation replied.

"Okay; anything else?" Kimmy asked.

"Actually yeah." Jubilation replied with a smile. "You know that thing that I keep telling you not to get me, but I keep sending you to get anyways? Grab one on the way back."

"Okay." Kimmy replied. "I should be back in about thirty minutes. Will you be okay to answer the phones yourself, or should I see if Sandra next door can spare someone to cover for me?"

"I think I can handle it for thirty minutes." Jubilation replied. "Besides, I don't want to bother Sandra this late; it's almost closing time for her."

"Then I'll be right back, Miss Lee." Kimmy said.

Jubilation pressed the button again, and looked at Scott. "What?" She asked.

"What's this 'thing' that she's getting?" Scott asked.

"Only the most amazing cheesecake in the world." She replied. "The bakery downstairs makes them, and they taste like I imagine heaven would taste like. It's like my crack; I can't stop myself from eating them. Even though I know I'll regret it the moment I step on the scale the next time."

Scott looked at her carefully. "Really?" He asked. "You look like you barely weigh a hundred pounds; and you're worried about cheesecake?"

"For your information, I weigh a hundred and twelve pounds." She replied, giving him a look. "What? It's the heaviest I've ever been. I'm really short, so a hundred and twelve is a lot more on me."

"I'll take your word for it." He said, shaking his head.

"Just sit down over there, and wait for the food." She said, pointing to a couch near the window; one that she could see from her workbench. "And start talking; I want to hear everything that happened since you left the institute, from you."

"Alright." Scott said, as he sat down on the couch and looked around the office. "I guess I owe you that much."

"Damn right, you do." She said, picking up her pencil and continuing her work.

"Okay, well I guess, after everything that happened, I needed a fresh start; so I took my bike and headed south." He said, leaning back. "I'm not even sure why I went south; it just felt like the right way to go. A couple of times, I thought about turning west, and heading back to see my parents; but I figured that would make it easy to find me, and I wanted to be left alone."

"We were only trying to look out for you; I hope you know that." She said. "We didn't want to interfere with your grieving; we just wanted to know you were okay. We could understand you wanting time away after Jean died."

"The thing is, it wasn't even really about Jean." He replied. "Well, maybe a little. It was more about how it happened; the betrayal. I think if it had happened any other way, I could have stayed and grieved there; but after the way it went down, I had to go."

She looked up from her work. "Was it that bad?" She asked. "I mean, Ororo told me what happened, but she was kind of vague on the details."

"Let's just say that, even after all this time away, I don't see the Professor and I exchanging Christmas cards anytime soon." He replied. "That being said, I think I could possibly be civil around him if I had too; but let's not try that just to be safe."

"I see." She said, returning to her work.

"So, anyways, back to my story." He said. "I ended up in Florida. I was driving down that coast, hustling suckers at pool."

"Oh, God; I forgot how good you are at that." She said. "No one ever wanted to play you, so I always got stuck getting my ass handed to me."

"Yeah, well, there were enough dive bars with sorry suckers just waiting to lose to me in Florida." He replied. "I was able to keep myself fed, and pay for motels for a little while; but it got boring quick. So I started asking around for any odd jobs. That's when I met Lee Forrester."

"Who's that?" She asked.

"The captain of the ship that I ended up working on for almost a year." He replied.

"Nice guy?" She asked.

"Actually, Lee is a woman; but yeah, she's really nice." He replied. "She hired me on as a deck hand. Of course, being a greenhorn, I had to endure all the hazing that comes with the job, but it's nothing I couldn't handle. It was therapeutic, working with my hands all day until I was so exhausted I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow."

"Not my idea of therapeutic; but to each his own." She said.

"It works for me." He replied. "When I have time to think, all I do is relive the past, over and over; trying to think of how I could have done things differently, or prevented things from happening the way they did. By keeping myself occupied, it was like my mind was able to come to terms with what happened subconsciously. One day, I just realized that I couldn't change the past, and just needed to move on. The problem there, was that I now needed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I knew being a deck hand on a fishing trolley wasn't what I wanted, but I had signed on for the season; so I wasn't going anywhere until that was done. And there was Lee..."

"Oh." She said, looking up at him. "So, you and her..?"

"Yeah; kind of." He replied, looking ashamed. "It started just before the end of my first season on the boat. We had both lost someone we cared about, and felt like we had been betrayed; we just kind of...connected. We both knew it wasn't healthy; I mean we weren't stupid. But we both needed something to make us feel alive, and we found it in each other."

"Are you two still together?" She asked, looking back at her work, but her hands not actually moving the pencil across the paper.

"No." He replied, sighing. "The problem with a relationship based on grief and comfort, is that once the grieving is over, it doesn't have a solid foundation to stand on. We both knew it, and when the season was over, we parted ways amicably. In fact, we still keep in touch."

"Wait." She said, looking at him again. "You keep in touch with her, but not us?" She threw her pencil at him, and narrowly missed his legs.

"I know; I'm an asshole. I thought we already established that." He replied, picking up the pencil and twirling it between his fingers. "It's something I'm trying hard to correct."

"You better correct it." She said, taking another pencil and returning to her work. "Or I'm going to come up to Anchorage, with Ororo, and kick your ass."

"I will; I promise." He said. "Back to my story. So I was in Florida, with my bike and all the money I had made working for Lee. I also had no clue what I wanted to do with myself at that point; so I called my dad. If there was one person who I could count on to give me helpful life advice, it would be him. After a couple of hours talking, he suggested I give his parents a call; they ran a charter flight company out of Anchorage, and were thinking of retiring. He told me that they didn't want to shut the company down, since they had a pretty regular clientele, and they didn't want to sell it; they had been trying to convince him to move up and take over. I had my pilot's license, and I knew, after the Blackbird, I could fly anything they had; so I did just that."

Just then, the door opened, and Kimmy walked in carrying a couple of bags. "Foods here." She said, walking over to the table in front of Scott and placing the bags down. "Will there be anything else?"

"I think that's all for today, Kimmy." Jubilation replied. "It's getting late, and I don't want to keep you too late again. I doubt anyone will call, and there's no reason anyone should be showing up; so why don't you head home, and lock up behind you. I'll let us out when I'm done here."

"Are you sure?" Kimmy asked. "I'm okay with staying if you want me too."

"No, it's fine; thanks." Jubilation replied. "Go home to your girlfriend, and enjoy the weekend."

"Okay; I will." Kimmy said. "Thank you. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to page me."

"I'll remember that." Jubilation replied. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Miss Lee." Kimmy said, leaving the two of them alone.

Jubilation turned her attention back to Scott, to find him already opening the bags and removing the contents. "What?" He asked, when he saw her watching him. "I haven't eaten since this morning; I'm starving."

She laughed, and walked over to sit next to him on the couch. "Move over." She said, bumping him with her hips as she tried to squeeze between him and the armrest.

He moved over to allow her to sit, and opened the Styrofoam container containing his meal. "Smells good." He said.

"It tastes even better." She replied, breaking off a piece of naan bread and dunking it in the butter chicken sauce.

Scott copied her, and dunked a piece of his own naan bread into the sauce. "Mmm; it is good." He said.

"I know my food." She replied. "I may not look like it, but I do." She ate a piece of chicken, and glanced over at Scott. "So, what happened between Florida and Alaska? You didn't ride your bike all the way there; do you?"

"Most of the way." He replied. "When I called my grandfather, he was excited at the possibility of me heading up there and working for them. He told me that he owned a hanger in Seattle, because they made monthly supply trips there, and told me that if I headed there, he would arrange to pick me up. So I rode across country; stopping in random towns along the way. When I got to Seattle, I had to wait a week before he was scheduled to make his trip; so I booked a hotel, and did the whole sight-seeing thing."

"I can't really see you as a tourist." She said. "You were never the type to stand around looking at monuments and stuff."

"It wasn't easy." He replied, with a laugh. "I felt like blasting some of the other tourists when they kept getting in my way, and slowing me down; but I kept it in check."

"So, what did you do with your bike? Did you cram it on the plane, and take it with you to Anchorage?" She asked.

"No." He replied. "I wouldn't have been able to ride it very often; so I stored it in my grandfather's Seattle hanger. Whenever I flew down, I made sure to check in on it before heading back."

"Man, I loved that bike." She said, leaning back. "I remember the first time you gave me a ride on it."

"Yeah. Seating was a little tighter than that beast we 'borrowed' from the Professor, but we made it work." He replied.

"I really miss that car, though." She said, with a smile. "Now those were fun times."

"Yeah." He replied, lost in memories.

Jubilation started to feel a little awkward at the direction she had led the conversation too, and changed the subject. "So, how about a slice of cheesecake?" She asked. "I'm going to have a small piece, and then I need to get back to work."

"Sure." He replied.

She cut two pieces, and handed Scott his, before digging into her own.

"This is really good." He said, as he took a bite.

"I told you; I know my food." She replied. "So, what happened after you got to Anchorage?"

"Well, my grandfather actually tested me out right away, and had me fly us back." He replied. "He seemed satisfied that I could take over most of the flights, and offered me the job. I took it, and immediately started apprenticing with him, until I got used to the area."

"And now?" She asked.

"And now, I fly solo." He replied. "My grandfather only flies when he feels up for it, and I'm always with him when he does; he's getting up there in years, and I worry about him flying solo."

She finished her piece, and looked at the cake longingly, before getting up and walking over to her desk to work. "Have another piece if you want; the more you eat, the less there will be for me to finish." She said.

"I'm good." He replied. "I wouldn't want to come between you and heaven."

"Ha ha, Scott; if you're not going to have another piece, then talk." She said.

"Sure, why not; it's not like I'm curious about what you've been up to anyways." He replied, with a smile.

"I'll tell you after." She said, giving him a dirty look. "If I feel like you deserve it."

"Okay." He said, putting the cheesecake away. "I wasn't sure if I was actually going to stay at first; there was something...odd, that happened."

"What?" She asked.

"Actually, I should have said 'someone'; Madelyne to be exact." He replied. "My grandparents had hired her a few months before I contacted them, and she was supposed to be the regular pilot; but I was a better pilot, and she was better at running the business. The problem was that the moment I saw her, I thought she was Jean. I mean she looked like they might be twins. I thought I was having a breakdown of some sort, and nearly got the hell out of there; but my grandparents assured me that she wasn't Jean, and that they had known her and her family for years. So I stayed, although it was a little awkward between us at first."

"I'll bet." She said, looking at him carefully; so as not to let him know she was looking. "How are things now?"

"Good now." He replied. "Now that I know she's not Jean's twin, or an evil clone. The more time I spend with her, the more differences I notice; like how Madelyne's hair is more auburn. I can only tell because it's darker to me."

"So, the two of you get along good?" She asked.

"If you're trying to be subtle, and ask if we're together; then the answer is no." He replied. "She may not be Jean, but she's too similar to her for me to go down that road."

"I was just curious." She said. "Is there anyone special, waiting for you back in Anchorage?"

"Actually, there is." He replied. "A gorgeous little blond, named Emma."

"Really?" She asked, confused by her sudden disappointment. "What's she like?"

"Oh, you'd either love her, or hate her." He replied. "She's sweet, and affectionate; but pretty high maintenance, and she can be a little bitch sometimes. Want to see a picture?" He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet.

She didn't really want to see this mystery girl, but didn't want Scott to know that; so she nodded and waited patiently for him to retrieve the picture.

He pulled a picture out of his wallet, and walked over to her workbench; where he handed her the photo.

"This is a dog, Scott." She said, when she saw the picture of Scott with a golden retriever puppy that was happily licking his face.

"Yes she is." He replied. "And she's my special girl; rescued her a couple of months ago."

"I thought you were talking about a woman, not a dog." She said, laughing as she handed him back the photo.

"Well, she's all I got." He replied, looking at the picture before putting it away. "For now." He walked over to the window, and looked outside. "How about you? Got anyone special that's going to be wondering why you're working late tonight?"

"Nope." She replied. "Just an empty condo; not even a dog, for me."

"I find that hard to believe." He said. "A beautiful, famous fashion designer, and no boyfriend?"

She felt herself blushing, so she pretended to be looking for something in one of her drawers so he wouldn't see. "No boyfriend." She replied. "Just little old me."

When she looked back up, Scott was standing right next to her. She hadn't even heard him move. She flinched a little, having forgotten how much taller than her he was, and he had filled out his frame in the last few years; he was quite an imposing figure.

"So, I guess I won't have to worry about anyone wanting to punch me after I do this, then." He said, as he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

She whimpered, as his lips touched hers; hating herself for showing any kind of reaction. It had been more than eight years since they had broken up, and with one kiss, she discovered that she was still not over him.

He pulled back, and looked down at her.

She couldn't stop herself from licking her lips, and blushing. "What was that about?" She asked, surprised that her voice was steady.

"I would think it was obvious." He replied, with a crooked smile. "When a man kisses a woman..."

"I know that, jackass." She said with a small laugh. "I mean, why? It's been eight years, Scott; why now?"

"Because if I didn't do it now, I know that I would regret it for the rest of my life." He replied. "I guess I never really got over you, Jubes. From the moment I walked through that door, all I've wanted to do was to take you into my arms, and kiss you senseless."

"But, Jean..." She said, unable to bring herself to ask the question.

"I did love Jean." He replied, having been able to understand what she had meant. "She had that fiery side, like you, that drew me to her. But we were more similar than anything else; Logan showed me that. I could see how she was drawn to his wild nature, and intense passion. He would have been a better balance for her than me; something I came to realize was lacking in my life too."

"Scott, we can't..." She said, turning away so she didn't have to look at him. "I can't."

"Then tell me." He said. "Tell me that you still don't have feelings for me; look at me, and say it to my face. Do that, and I'll leave you alone. I'll hop back on my bike, head up to Seattle, and fly back to Anchorage. I'll keep in touch this time, but I'll never bring this up again."

She looked at him, a smile forming on her lips. "You have your bike here?" She asked, as she bit her lip.

"There are two helmets sitting on your assistants desk; one's yours." He replied, returning her smile.

* * *

Two sweaty, naked bodies collapsed onto the bed. Jubilation grabbed the covers and pulled them up, before curling into Scott's side, and resting her head on his chest. She lazily ran her fingers through his chest hair, and listened to his heart, which was still pounding.

"Well, that was even better than I remembered." She said, with a little laugh. "You've kept in shape since leaving the team."

"You're one to talk." He replied, kissing the top of her head. "I'm drained; couldn't move a muscle, even if Magneto showed his face right now."

"Yoga class really does wonders for the body." She said.

"I can tell." He said, squeezing her shoulder.

"Man, I always did love that bike." She said.

"I know." He replied, pulling her tightly against his side. "I should buy you a pink jacket to wear when we ride, and start calling you Stephanie; you could be my Michelle Pfieffer."

"Oh course, you would be a fan of Grease." She said, with a laugh.

"Actually, the motorcycles were in Grease 2." He replied.

"Maybe, instead of a pink jacket, I should look into a leather cat suit?" She asked, stifling a laugh. "Meow."

He started laughing, making her head bounce.

She sighed, as she melted into his side. "This is probably some kind of faux pas, bringing this up right after having sex; but what does this all mean, Scott?" She asked. "I mean, you have a life in Alaska, and my life is here. Was this just a one time thing, or are you hoping for the whole 'long distance relationship' kind of deal?"

"Would it surprise you, if I said that I wasn't thinking that far ahead?" He asked.

"The old Scott, the one I dated; no." She replied, tilting her head so that she could see his face. "But the new Scott, the one that dated Jean; yes."

"Well, truthfully, it's a little of both." He said, his laugh causing her head to bounce again. "I'm actually on a little bit of an extended leave, right now. I have until the next Seattle supply run to get back. But if I don't get back to Seattle; that's okay too."

"What do you mean?" She asked, lifting herself up on her elbow so she could see his face better.

"I mean, that my grandparents know that I might not be returning." He replied. "I'd still have to go back eventually to collect all my stuff, and get Emma; my grandparents love her, but I could never leave her behind for too long."

"So..?" She asked, her heart feeling like it wasn't going to beat until he answered.

"I wasn't lying when I said that I'd go away if you told me." He replied. "I'll still leave, if you want me too. But if you don't, than I won't. I'll find a place in the city, and get myself a job." He lifted his head enough that she knew he was looking her directly in the eye. "And I'll never let you go again."

"You don't need to find a place in the city." She said, leaning in to kiss him. "You can stay here with me."

He pulled her close, and kissed her deeply. "I love you, Jubes." He said, when they broke apart.

"I love you too, Scott." She replied, resting her head back on his chest, with a huge smile. "Especially, with this new badass look you're rocking." She reached up, and ran her fingers through his beard. "Incredibly sexy."

"You think so?" He asked.

"Totally." She replied, resting her chin on his chest, and smiling at him. "You've got, like, a Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall kind of thing going; so hot. I almost feel like I'm in bed with an actor."

"If anyone's in bed with an actor; it's me." He replied, with a smirk. "I remember that commercial you did for the Institute; you were so cute in it."

"You did not just bring that up." She said, slapping his chest, before resting her head on it to hide her blush. "You are so bad."

"I never said I was a boy-scout; that was you." He replied, laughing so hard her head bounced.

 **THE END**


End file.
